Task force to solve full service, budget airlines time-slot rift

NEW DELHI: The confrontation between domestic airlines and airport operators over allocation of peak time slots will soon be resolved in a time-bound manner. The government has set up a task force headed by the director general of civil aviation to settle tricky issues between airlines and airport operators, especially ones related to sharing of time slots. A number of airlines have complained to the civil aviation ministry about certain full-service carriers which have blocked peak time slots, but don���t use them.

The panel ��� which includes the aviation industry regulator, officials from the civil aviation ministry, airport operators and airlines ��� will also look at long-pending issues such as appropriate airport charges and inclusion of development fee in air tickets. The task force would meet regularly once a month and submit its report to the government.

In the last few years, the number of airlines and airport operators have gone up, giving rise to differences between the two. ���The scope of the panel will be to resolve short-term operational issues affecting airlines and airports. It would also identify various avenues for optimal utilisation of space at airports as well as issues relating to proper utilisation of flight slots by airlines,��� a ministry circular said.

The aviation ministry has warned airlines several times in the past for not vacating slots that go unused. Even as carriers have been reducing the number of their daily flights, they many have not have vacated the time slots held by them. For instance, all the airlines together sought the approval for 10% more slots for the ongoing summer schedule while the number of flights went down by 20%.

���At a time when the number of air travellers is going down, airlines are asking for more time slots for flights. It���s clear the airlines��� intention is to just block peak time slots,��� a ministry official, who didn���t wish to be identified, said.