Govt gets 34 major airports to cut landing & parking charges for domestic flights for 3 months | India News

New Delhi: In a bid to offer some reassurance to airlines badly hit by the US-Iran war, the aviation ministry has directed 34 major airports to reduce their landing and parking charges by 25% for domestic flights for three months. Accordingly, the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) on Tuesday issued an order directing airport operators in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and many other places with effect from Tuesday for three months. The government is looking for ways to provide some relief to Indian carriers, most of whom are struggling to survive. For this reason the increase in domestic ATF was capped at 25% this month. With assembly elections in key states like Kerala and West Bengal on the horizon, the aviation ministry is making all possible efforts to ensure that at least domestic air fare hikes do not defy gravity. The ministry has made a rare intervention in airport tariffs, as most of them operate on the PPP model.The order said: “Landing and parking charges (part of aeronautical duty) at all major airports will be reduced by 25% from the existing duty. This reduction will be effective immediately and will be applicable to all domestic flights for a period of three months. The decision will be reviewed before the expiry of the recovery period under three months. The next control period will become valid during the determination of duty.”“This month, oil marketing PSUs hiked aviation turbine fuel base prices by over 25% and 100% for domestic and international flights respectively. Coupled with airspace restrictions in the West that force airlines to take much longer routes to Europe and the Americas, in addition to far fewer flights on lucrative Gulf routes, and a weak rupee, airlines have been badly hit. Air India Group and IndiGo have hidden their fuel surcharges.