New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry has rejected a Planning Commission model to link landing and parking charges at airports to inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI).
The differences have surfaced in the discussions between the two for the award of Chennai, Lucknow, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Guwahati airports to private parties for operations. loss making airports
“We have asked the Planning Commission to change the draft concession agreement accordingly,” said a senior government official in the know. The changes are significant for passengers as higher charges will translate into higher fares. He explained that linking the charges to a price index introduces an upward bias to them. “Linking them to WPI will ensure that the charges will only increase from here”.
According to the ministry it should be the other way round with the construction of an index that allows for progressively lower charges as the airports recoup their construction costs.
21/10/13 Mihir Mishra/Financial Express
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The differences have surfaced in the discussions between the two for the award of Chennai, Lucknow, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Guwahati airports to private parties for operations. loss making airports
“We have asked the Planning Commission to change the draft concession agreement accordingly,” said a senior government official in the know. The changes are significant for passengers as higher charges will translate into higher fares. He explained that linking the charges to a price index introduces an upward bias to them. “Linking them to WPI will ensure that the charges will only increase from here”.
According to the ministry it should be the other way round with the construction of an index that allows for progressively lower charges as the airports recoup their construction costs.
21/10/13 Mihir Mishra/Financial Express
