Govt to offer more sops to improve air connectivity
The government may offer more incentives to regional airlines for providing air connectivity to smaller cities.
By Nirbhay Kumar, TNN |
NEW DELHI: The government may offer more incentives to regional airlines for providing air connectivity to smaller cities. The proposals under consideration include exempting regional operators from night landing charges, terminal navigational landing charges (TNLC) and route navigation facility charges (RNFC).
Smaller aircraft already enjoy exemption from landing charges. As per the existing guidelines aircraft with a take-off mass of less than 40,000 kg are not required to pay landing charges.
“Regional airlines operating with smaller aircraft with the take-off mass less than 40,000 kg may be exempted from paying night landing charges once the non-metro airports are equipped with night landing facilities. At a later stage, they may not be required to pay RNFC and TNLC too,” a civil aviation ministry official told ET. Regional airlines operating with comparatively bigger aircraft would, however, be charged for all the services provided by the airport operator and the air traffic controllers (ATCs).
“An airline would operate with bigger aircraft only when there is enough traffic in a particular route. If traffic justifies commercial viability, why should the government offer incentives? Objective of the policy on regional airlines is to promote air connectivity to smaller cities,” another official said.
Three airlines — Air Dravida, Star Aviation and Emric Air — are in the queue to take off as regional airlines in the south India. Others such as Bird group and Megha Airways are also readying their plans to fly as regional airlines.
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The government recently notified a separate category of permit for regional airlines operators. Regional carriers are allowed to operate flights from airports in their designated region — north, south, west and east/north east to all airports in any other region except the metro airports. However, regional airlines in the south would be allowed to connect the three metros — Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.While announcing the policy on regional airlines, civil aviation minister Praful Patel had said further incentives would be provided to regional carriers in due course. At present, a regional airline operating with three aircraft having take-off mass not exceeding 40,000 kg is required to have a paid-up capital of only Rs 12 crore.
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