The Hindu Business Line : Air Deccan, Paramount opt for parking at non-metros

To park or not to park If there is not enough traffic from a non-metro city to justify an early morning flight from there, then it may not make economic sense to park the aircraft at night there.

New Delhi , Feb. 26

The Government's attempt to decongest air traffic at the six metro airports has met with limited success. Paramount Airways and Air Deccan are the only airlines that have come forward to avail themselves of a 50 per cent reduction in night parking charges that airlines will be charged for parking their aircraft at major non-metro airports.

Official sources told Business Line that while Paramount Airways wants to park its aircraft in Coimbatore at night, Air Deccan has shown an interest in night parking at Guwahati. Besides, Air Sahara will also be parking aircraft at night in Hyderabad, but would not be entitled for the concessional rates, they said.

Similarly, the low cost airline, SpiceJet has indicated that it would take up the Government offer and park one of its aircraft in Gujarat at night. There are at least 12 scheduled airlines, including Indian Airlines, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and Alliance Airways, that could have opted for concessional parking.

When contacted, officials of various airlines said that they could look at taking up the offer later.

"An airline has to examine several things before deciding on night parking in a non-metro city. If there is not enough traffic from that non-metro city to justify an early morning flight from there, then it may not make economic sense to park the aircraft at night there," a senior official of an airline that has not yet taken up the offer said.

The Government had announced that from January 1 this year, airlines parking their aircraft between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. at most major non-metro airports, except those at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, would be charged half the night parking charges.

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