Indian, foreign carriers owe Rs 1,200 cr to AAI

NEW DELHI: Indian and foreign airlines owe around Rs 1,200 crore to the Airports Authority of India, with the national carrier and its subsidiary being the major defaulter with dues about Rs 640 crore.

As on September 30, out of a total of Rs 640.43 crore due of the national carrier, erstwhile Air India and Indian Airlines have dues of Rs 242.03 crore and Rs 365.51 crore respectively.

Air India subsidiary Alliance Air owes Rs 32.89 crore under various aeronautical and non-aeronautical charge heads, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel informed Rajya Sabha.

The cumulative dues of all private airlines is about Rs 375.13 crore of which, Kingfisher owes the major share of Rs 224.82 crore to the AAI.

Dues of Jet Airways and JetLite combined stood at Rs 50.36 crore, while that of SpiceJet was Rs 12.79 crore, IndiGo Rs 7.27 crore, GoAir Rs 5.47 crore, Paramount Rs 4.58 crore. Other private carriers including charter companies owed a total of Rs 69.84 crore.

International airlines operating in India too owed AAI a total of Rs 161.20, of which Emirates has to pay Rs 19.06 crore, Patel said in a written reply.

Private and foreign airlines have to deposit security with the AAI to avail of the credit facility. In case of default, the amount is adjusted from this deposit.

Bills in respect of aeronautical charges -- which include navigation, landing and parking -- are raised on the airlines on a fortnightly basis while non-aeronautical bills are raised on a monthly basis.