The Hindu Business Line : Domestic airlines worry over operations at new airport

New Delhi, March 14 Domestic airlines are apprehensive about the increase in their expenses, if the proposal to jack up ground handling charges and impose central infrastructure fee at the new Hyderabad airport comes through. They seem equally wary about the feasibility of operations with the new airport being a long distance from the city centre and the user development fee that the passenger will have to bear.

A few airline officials also prefer to have both the airports functioning in tandem at Hyderabad as they feel that the old airport is more convenient for short-haul flights. Commercial operations at the new airport, which was slated for a March 16 opening, is now to open a few days later. When it does, the existing airport will cease to accept any commercial flights.

Airline officials told Business Line that the charges being proposed at the new airport would be more than double of what is being charged at the existing airport and going forward, this could make operations unviable. As for the central infrastructure fee, several airlines feel this could penalise airlines carrying more passengers as the levy would be on a per passenger basis, and not on the basis of number of counters used.

Making a strong pitch for the existing airport to remain open, the Executive Chairman, Deccan Aviation, Captain G.R. Gopinath, said that the customer should be provided a choice if there is one. “A customer can choose their own television channel, restaurant to dine in, and the airline they fly. So why not the choice of airport?” he said.

“As an airline we would welcome the use of two airports in Hyderabad. The old airport is ideally located and allows airlines the option of operating several flights a day from close by destinations,” said the Managing Director, Paramount Airways, Mr M. Thiagarajan. Chief Financial Officer, Go Air, Mr G.P. Gupta, recommended that the Government follow the example of London which has four operational airports.

The industry also found it ironical that the GMR group, which is developing the new Hyderabad airport, is willing to take up the development of a second airport in Istanbul, but is against the continuation of the existing airport where Hyderabad is concerned.