A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta termed the exorbitant rise of airfares by airlines as "exploitation" and asked the Centre and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to file their replies to a PIL seeking binding regulatory guidelines to control the unpredictable fluctuations in airfare and ancillary charges imposed by private airlines in India.
The cost of any flight from Delhi and Mumbai could rise by up to Rs 3,000 soon unless the airport regulator is able to reverse a court order.
An airport operator will be responsible for maintaining overall service standards at an airport, including those delivered by third-party service providers, under new rules being framed by the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA), its chairman SKG Rahate told aviation stakeholders at a meeting on Wednesday
Aviation regulator DGCA plans to implement measures to control excessive air ticket price increases, following concerns raised during a parliamentary panel meeting. The meeting also addressed air safety issues in light of the Ahmedabad plane crash.
'That refresh programme -- because they are big aircraft and we cannot ground them all at the same time -- will last well into 2027.'
Reconstruction of the terminal is expected to be completed by September 2028.
Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) has proposed a significant increase in User Development Fee (UDF) for international passengers, while domestic passengers will be charged a UDF for the first time. However, MIAL also proposed a 35% reduction in landing and parking charges, aiming to balance infrastructure development with cost-effective air travel for airlines. The new tariff structure is subject to approval by the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA).
GMR Group-led DIAL, which manages and operates India's largest airport, recently requested the AERA to double the user development fee (UDF) for international business and first-class travellers compared to economy and premium economy over the next four years. It has also sought higher UDF for all domestic passengers flying during peak hours -- 5 am-8:55 am and 5 pm-8:55 pm.
Lok Sabha on Thursday passed two bills before the proceedings were adjourned for the day amid continuous protests by opposition members over the Pegasus spying row and farmers' issue.
The slot charge has been included in Mumbai International Airport Limited's rate revision proposal.
Flying out of Delhi would become cheaper from Tuesday, with the development fee (DF) charged by the operator of IGI airport here being reduced by Rs 100for domestic and Rs 700 per international passenger.
Any rise in charges has to be approved by the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority, which is examining MIAL's proposal.
Riding high on the aviation boom, India has built 17 international airports.
Regulator sets recovery period up to April 2021.
Modernisation and expansion of the Kolkata and Chennai airports are being carried.
The order would take effect from February 1 and be in force for a year.
The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority on April 25 decided to raise airport charges, including UDF, by a whopping 346 per cent for two years, with airlines protesting the move and saying they and the passengers would have to face the brunt of the massive hike.
AERA says airport operator must go on its own to avoid revenue-sharing.
The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) here has got clearance from the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) to increase the user development fee (UDF) levied on all outbound passengers.
In an order, the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority has fixed these rates to be charged by the Delhi Internal Airport Limited with effect from December 1 for 18 months till May 2013 to help it bridge a funding gap of Rs 1,230.27 crore (Rs 12.30 billion).
The estimated cost for building T-3 went up from Rs 8,975 crore (Rs 89.75 billion) to Rs 12,700 crore (Rs 127 billion) during the 37 months it took. In March 2009, the operator was allowed by the civil aviation ministry to collect an ADF for 36 months, to recover an estimated Rs 1,827 crore (Rs 18.27 billion).
DIAL allowed to charge user development fee from both departing and arriving passengers
The creation of joint ventures by Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) has not impacted its revenue share, says the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), which constructed and operates Delhi airport, "over-engineered" the new Terminal-3 by building more floor space than stipulated under the master plan, says a cost audit report submitted to the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA).
GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) is unlikely to post profit in the near future even after the proposed hike in the user development fee (UDF) from Rs 340 to Rs 420 for domestic passengers and from Rs 907 to Rs 1,656 for international passengers, effective November 1.
The government on Thursday cleared the proposed Bill for setting up the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority.
The central government has set itself a tight deadline of July this year for completing a series of reforms in the civil aviation sector.
The government considering creation of a an Airport Economic Regulatory Authority to ensure a level playing field for all airport developers in the country, according to Ministry of civil aviation joint secretary K N Srivastav.
This would be a key function of the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority, to be set up to regulate tariffs, said a civil aviation ministry official.
Government is considering setting up an airport economic regulatory authority to deal with tariff and service standards at airports, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
The bill to set up an Airport Economic Regulatory Authority, which will fix tariffs for different agencies involved in airport operations and management, will be introduced in the budget session of Parliament next year.
Rivals say the concessions would benefit AirAsia alone.
Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kochi airports have hiked their landing charges by up to 45 per cent, increasing the operating cost for airlines at a time they are facing financial constraints because of the two months of grounding and weak demand.
Indian airlines are expected to post a consolidated loss of $4.1 billion this fiscal, similar to what they are estimated to have incurred in 2020-21, taking the total losses of two years to around $8 billion as a result of the pandemic so far, aviation consultancy and research firm CAPA said on Thursday. In a report, CAPA expects domestic passenger traffic to be around 80-95 million in 2021-22 as against 52.5 million in the previous financial year. However, despite this growth, it will be well below than around 140 million passenger volumes recorded in 2019-20, CAPA said in the report. This projection of the traffic volume does not take into account the anticipated third wave of the pandemic, it added.
Airports levy charges such as FTC, infrastructure charge, and into-plane charges on sale of jet fuel. The levy is passed through to airlines, pushing up costs.
There is no reason for keeping an entire ministry with a total staff strength of 2,300, just for the oversight of a few aviation sector laws and regulatory bodies, notes A K Bhattacharya.
It has been lowered to 'IND BBB+' from 'IND A-', besides placing the rating on 'Rating Watch Negative' (RWN).
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