Centre is ignoring Rajasansi: Sidhu

Amrtisar: A few days after the Punjab Congress accused the ruling Akali Dal-BJP government of deliberately ignoring the development of Rajasansi airport in Amritsar, the BJP blamed the Congress government at the Centre for the airport’s plight.
Launching a tirade against the UPA government, BJP MP from Amritsar Navjot Sidhu alleged: “The Centre ignoring the airport is an example of political vendetta.” He, however, said he would do “everything in my capacity to save the airport”.
Talking to newspersons here, he showed the copy of a letter that he wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, appealing to them not to re-route the Amritsar-London-Toronto Air India flight from Delhi. Sidhu also had a request for the Akali-BJP government in Punjab, as he demanded that the “exorbitant VAT” on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) be cut.
“Airlines have to shell out Rs 6,000 more on per liter of ATF in Amritsar as compared to Chandigarh. This is a major disincentive and dissuades them from starting operations from Rajasansi. In terms of one flight, it translates into a loss of Rs 3 lakh,” said the cricketer-turned-politician, adding that he would take up the issue in Parliament during the next session.
05/10/10 Indian Express

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Categories: airports Oct 2010