Delhi airport charges too high, complain airlines

New Delhi: Just five months after the grand new Terminal 3 (T3) at the international airport here was opened for commercial operations, airlines have termed the various fees charged as exorbitant.
“When compared with a rent of Rs500 per sq metre for airline offices at the older terminals, Rs1,900 per sq metre at T3 is not justifiable and does not provide value for money,” said an airline source, who did not want to be identified.
However, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), the operator, says the terminal provided a lot of facilities and the charges were all justified. “We provide a lot more clean offices here and also provide them one point for various services like couriers, and that comes at a cost,” said a spokesperson.
DIAL is a joint venture led by the Bangalore-headquartered GMR Group, with state-owned Airports Authority of India, Germany’s Fraport and Malaysian Airport Holdings.
T3 has a capacity to handle 34 million passengers a year and was inaugurated in July last year. International operations shifted right away and domestic operations by Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, with their low-cost subsidiaries, in mid-November.
The airlines complain of being forced to pay exorbitant rates for food inside the terminal because their caterers are not allowed in. “During fog delays, we bought food for passengers for as high as Rs500 per plate, which our caterers would have served for just Rs150,” said the airline source.
13/01/11 Mihir Mishra/Business Standard

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Categories: Airports Jan 2011