New ground handling policy for airports may remain grounded till March
29 Dec 2009
The new ground handling policy for airports that was scheduled to come into effect from 1 January 2010, is likely be postponed till March 2010, media reports said on Monday. The reports quoting unnamed sources said the cabinet committee on security (CCS) might discuss postponing the execution of the policy.
The implementation of the policy has been pending since long with a number of private carriers opposing it and seeking deferment of its implementation.
Currently, ground handling is basically carried out by airlines themselves, who have employed over 31,000 people for it and have additionally invested substantially in the required equipment, they said.
Ground handling covers a range of activities, including passenger check-in, baggage and cargo handling to cleaning and refuelling of air planes.
Reports said the civil aviation ministry had held several rounds of discussions in the past few months with the airlines and inter-ministerial consultations have also been held.
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