The government has imposed a service tax of 10.3 per cent on the gross value of tickets of all classes on the domestic flights and economy class on international routes.
Despite the bullishness associated with India, IATA has flagged taxation and fuel charges as key areas of concern for the aviation industry in the subcontinent, which is among the fastest growing in the world.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has termed the service tax charged on air tickets by the Indian government as illegal according to the Chicago Convention.
Security can only be guaranteed by making a risk assessment of people before they are even board an aircraft, The Telegraph quoted Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the International Air Transport Association, as saying.
In a letter to US Homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano, IATA's director general Giovanni Bisignani said 'the air transport system cannot support 100 per cent pat-down searches over the long term' even though short-term temporary and extra-ordinary security measures were needed until the immediate threat had abated.
Airline industry losses this year are expected to be nearly double the level forecast in December, as carriers are hit by steeply falling demand from premium passengers and by record falls in cargo traffic.
The airline industry will suffer a $2.5bn net loss next year despite the big fall in the oil price, as carriers are overtaken by falling demand for air travel amid the deepening recession in several leading economies.
Forecasting a 'major shift' in performance of carriers in India and China, IATA chief Giovanni Bisignani said the airline industry in these two 'robust emerging markets' would face 'a much more substantial slowdown' in 2009 and asked the the two governments to take corrective steps to help the ailing business.
Painting a gloomy picture, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Friday said the Indian aviation industry is estimated to suffer a collective loss of $1.5 billion in 2009, with Air India accounting for most of it.
Giovanni Bisignani, CEO of International Air Transport Association, said Delhi and Mumbai airports were one of the worst contributors to the crisis, for their 207 per cent hike in charges. "There is no room for this nonsense in our future. When demand drops, suppliers cannot divide the same costs among fewer customers. The shape of everything must change," he declared.
International passenger traffic has grown by 5.9 per cent in the first quarter of this year, reflecting "strong economic prospects" in India and China, the International Air Transport Association.
No more lavish meal choices, no pampered check-ins and fewer options in flight timings. Call it Plan B or an effort by the airlines in India to cope with the crisis caused by soaring aircraft turbine fuel prices.
Former Director General and CEO of IATA, Giovanni Bisignani, says Jet Airways chief Naresh Goyal developed his airline's business class mock-ups in utter secrecy inside the garage of his London home.
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