Policy on ground handling being deferred again

Mumbai: The civil aviation ministry is set to defer the implementation of a new ground handling policy for the third time in a row. The policy, which has been opposed by domestic private airlines, was to come into force from 1 January.
Approved by Parliament on 1 February 2007, the policy seeks to bar private carriers such as Jet Airways (India) Ltd and Kingfisher Airlines Ltd from ground handling at the six metro airports.
It envisages ground handling only by subsidiaries of Air India, airport operators and service providers, selected through competitive bidding at the airports of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata.
“The implementation of the new ground-handling policy would be deferred for now. We will review the policy after inter-ministerial consultations shortly,” civil aviation minister Praful Patel told Mint on Monday. “Private airlines will continue to do self-handling at metro airports.”
Loss-making Indian private airlines have been lobbying hard against the policy out of concern that at least 10,000 employees will become jobless and retrenching them would not be an easy option. They would also need to spend three times more if the government implements the policy.
Dedicated ground-handling companies have been keenly waiting for the change in policy to grab the business, worth an annual Rs2,000 crore.
Air India, one of the leading ground-handling companies in the country, is carrying out its ground operations through a subsidiary, Air Transport Services Ltd, and earns around Rs1,000 crore a year.
Ground handling includes general administration, baggage, freight and mail handling, loading and unloading of aircraft and transport of crew, passengers and baggage, fuel and oil handling and catering services.
The Federation of Indian Airlines, or FIA, has been fighting against the proposed new policy on behalf of Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, SpiceJet Ltd, Go Airlines (India) Pvt. Ltd (GoAir), Paramount Airways Ltd and InterGlobe Aviation Ltd (IndiGo).
30/12/09 P.R. Sanjai/Live Mint

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Categories: Airports Dec 2009