Airfares set to rise with higher airport fees

New Delhi: India's aviation sector is heading for a major hike in airfares as the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) is consulting with stakeholders of major airports for revising airport charges, such as navigation, parking and fees for various airport facilities used by airlines, that have not been reworked since 2001.
India's state-owned airport developer Airport Authority of India (AAI) that operates 125 airports - with 86 operational airports - has filed a tariff proposal before AERA, demanding a hike in airport charges ranging between 100 and 400 per cent. Earlier this week AERA recommended a 340 per cent hike in airport tariffs for the Delhi airport, which is operated by Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) - a GMR-led consortium.
A top industry official said that AERA is recommending a three-fold hike in airport charges at the Delhi airport, which will set the trend for other major airports as well and push up airfares further.
"It is not only the greenfield projects (new airports) at Bangalore and Hyderabad and the Mumbai airport that will see multi-fold hike in tariffs, other major airports operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) will also witness multifold increase in airport charges that have not been hiked since 2001," said the official on conditions of anonymity.
21/01/12 Sanjay Singh/Business Today

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

Categories: airports Jan 2012, Indian Aviation- In General Jan 2012