Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Only Kial deserves tax relief: CM Pinarayi Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has turned down the demand to exempt airlines operating from Calicut International Airport at Karipur from aviation fuel tax, Monday.

The demand for the tax relief grew louder after the government reduced air turbine fuel (ATF) tax for flights operating from the newly-opened Kannur International Airport Ltd (Kial).

People's representatives from Kozhikode and Malappuram districts have deamnded tax relief for the 30-year-old Karipur airport, which according to them, was struggling especially after the opening of the Kannur airport.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the legislative assembly that the fuel tax for flights operating from Kannur airport was slashed to 1% for 30 years as it was requisite for the airport to join the central government's UDAN project that promotes regional air connectivity.

Also, being a green field airport, the daily expenditure of Kannur airport was very high, he said.

“Karipur, Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi airports don’t deserve tax exemption. The exemption given to Kannur airport would no way affect Karipur airport,” he said.

A P Anilkumar, MLA, claimed that the flight services from Kannur have become cheaper than from Karipur. “We are not against Kannur getting the exemption. The government should carry out a study to assess whether Karipur airport has achieved due growth in 30 years,” he said.
29/01/19 Times of India
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