AAI mulls night parking fees waiver in non-metros

New Delhi: At a time when Indian carriers are complaining about rising operating costs at glitzy private metro airports, the staterun Airports Authority of India (AAI) is planning to waive off night parking charges for aircraft at its non-metro airports. The authority expects the move to be a win-win formula to increase usage of recently upgraded airports as well as improve connectivity of non-metros with metros.
"On an average it costs about Rs 9,000-11 ,000 to have an aircraft like Boeing 737 or Airbus A-320 parked overnight at an airport. Airlines looking to cut costs will find this an attractive option. Having even a part of their fleet stationed outside of Mumbai, Delhi or Bangalore at nearby non-metros will mean that the first flight will be out of non-metro and then there will be a day time flight to that city," said a senior official.
For instance, AAI has added to the number of parking bays in both Lucknow and Jaipur. But these are used to capacity mainly during winter when fog in Delhi forces aircraft to divert there.
Airlines reacted with caution to AAI's proposed move. "Peak morning slots are very valuable and to retain them we have to keep aircraft stationed in metros . But for new flights that can arrive in metros between 7-8 am from the nonmetros and then leave by 9 am for other destinations, we can consider this for some planes as the fleet grows this year," said a senior official of an LCC.
06/01/10 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports Jan 2011