Airlines to resist higher peak hrs airport charges

New Delhi, Mar 11: Airlines are up against the government's proposal to impose higher airport charges during peak hours in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.

Senior executives from Air India, Jet Airways, Air Sahara, Kingfisher, SpiceJet, Air Deccan, IndiGo and GoAir will call on Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel this week under the aegis of Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) and take up issues relating to imposition of differential airport charges.

Airlines want that any changes in airport charges should be revenue-neutral for the airports while at the same time not burden the carriers with additional costs.

''Peak hour pricing at airports adds to passenger costs and rarely achieves the desired outcomes,'' said Mr Albert Tjoeng, corporate communications manager at the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

''Airline operations -- particularly at hubs for international flights -- are to a very large extent driven by complex networks, timetable issues and curfew restrictions. So there is little scope for change regardless of peak pricing penalties.'' Peak hour pricing will also place a short-term constraint on passenger and freight and in the long term, lower benefits generated for users and the wider economy, said Mr Tjoeng.

The IATA and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) have a current pricing agreement and expect formal consultations on any proposed changes. The agreement will expire in September.

''We share the strong concern of Indian government regarding the growing congestion at Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore airports. However, the IATA strongly encourages the government to address the underlying causes of the congestion and not to impose congestion/peak hour charging.''

UNI