Travellers may now fund unviable airports, routes
Air travel may become costlier. The civil aviation ministry is considering imposition of a cess on air travel to fund development of economically-unviable airports and air routes.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: Air travel may become costlier. The civil aviation ministry is considering imposition of a cess on air travel to fund development of economically-unviable airports and air routes.
���We are proposing a cess to support viability gap funding for development of non-viable airports and air routes,��� civil aviation minister Praful Patel told reporters here on Monday on the sidelines of a conference on infrastructure.
The minister said while the proposal is at a nascent stage, the government has reached a broad consensus on imposing the cess. However, the quantum of cess is yet to be worked out, he said. The cess will be over and above the Rs 221 passenger service fee (PSF) being levied by the Airports Authority of India.
���What we are trying is to either redefine the existing PSF or have an additional levy. There may be a change in the nomenclature,��� Mr Patel said. He said the Naresh Chandra Committee has already recommended such a cess, though its exact magnitude and the timeframe is yet to be decided.
Already, private airlines are levying a Rs 150 congestion surcharge and the cess proposed by the government would mean a further hike in airfares. While the government has kicked off the modernisation of profitable metro airports such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, development of unviable airports ��� such as those in tier-II and tier-III cities ��� has lagged.
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Civil aviation ministry hopes the proposed cess may finance the development of the unprofitable airports. The government may also offer over 300 airstrips and airports to private players for development.���We could also bid out the airstrips in blocks as single airstrips would not be attractive to the investor,��� he added. This would mean bunches of airstrips shall be offered to private companies for development.
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