SC to hear airlines' plea on ground handling on 25 Apr

The apex court issued notices to all stakeholders and admitted the case, listing the matter for hearing on 25 April, when it will consider passing any interim order.
Domestic private carriers on Monday appealed in the Supreme Court against the government's decision to give ground-handling operations at major airports to joint ventures formed by state-owned Air India Ltd or private ground-handling companies. The apex court issued notices to all stakeholders and admitted the case, listing the matter for hearing on 25 April, when it will consider passing any interim order. Airlines typically carry out their own ground-handling operations, which include services such as cleaning and baggage handling, from the time an aircraft docks at the terminal until it departs for the next flight. In 2007, the civil aviation ministry proposed to take these functions away from airlines and hand them over to ground-handling agencies through competitive bids. It said this would improve security management at the country's six busiest airports-Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
The airlines protested, and the matter reached the Delhi high court after talks between airline managements and the government broke down. In March, the high court ruled in favour of the government, allowing it to turn ground-handling into a separate business.
05/04/11 India Infoline

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Categories: Airports Apr 2011, Indian Aviation- In General Apr 2011