Airport charges to be hiked during peak hours in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore
06 Mar 2007
The airport charges for airlines that fly at non-peak hours will be lower, while those flying in the peak hour may have to pay double. If the proposal is approved, then it could be implemented by the end of the month when the new summer schedule starts.
The doubling of the airport charges could put an additional burden of between Rs22,000 and Rs25,000 per landing, officials said. The move is being considered, as there is heavy congestion at these airports.
Airlines estimate that it costs Rs500-600 per minute in fuel charges alone when the aircraft is taxying, while it costs almost Rs2,000 per minute when an aircraft is holding over an airport.
In December last year, it was estimated that the average taxying time at Bangalore was 14-25 minutes, while in Mumbai it was 11-18 minutes, while ideally it should not take more than a minute, airline officials said.
Most domestic airlines are already charging a congestion surcharge of Rs150 to offset the increase in costs.
While airlines refused to comment on whether the implementationof the new proposal could see a fare hike, the Secretary felt that some element of the increase could be passed on to the customers.
