New Bangalore airport take off likely to be delayed
April 27th, 2008 - 2:36 pm ICT by admin
New Delhi, April 27 (IANS) The flight operations from the new airport in Bangalore are expected to be further delayed as contentious issues like user development fee are yet to be resolved, an aviation official said. The stakeholders of the Rs.25 billion airport - the ministry of civil aviation, the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the Karnataka government and the Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) - will meet here Tuesday following a Karnataka high court order.
The court asked them to re-look and re-negotiate the concessions agreement signed between the airport developer, BIAL, and the government.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel will review the meeting of the stakeholders and look into various issues.
The closure of the existing HAL airport and levy of user development fee by the new Bangalore airport are expected to come up for discussion.
The concession agreement with the aviation ministry allows BIAL to charge the airport user fee of Rs.675 on domestic travelers and Rs.955 on international travelers. User groups have questioned this levy. They have also filed a public interest litigation (PIL) against it in the Karnataka high court.
Also, the government has made it clear to the stakeholders that they would have to compromise on the concession agreement, said the official.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) would issue a licence to the airport only after the stakeholders reach a decision on the issues, the official said.
The 40-day postponement to May 11 to launch the airport operations has cost BIAL Rs.400 million. BIAL had earlier planned to start operations March 30.
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- Development fee at Delhi, Mumbai airports under review: Ravi - Mar 09, 2011
- Supreme Court quashes airport development fee for Delhi, Mumbai (Second Lead) - Apr 26, 2011
- Delhi airport got Rs.1,199 crore in development fee - Feb 24, 2011
- Passenger traffic hits air pocket at new Bangalore airport - Nov 12, 2008
- India, France discuss civil aviation cooperation - Mar 07, 2011
- DIAL to again charge development fee at IGI airport - Nov 16, 2011
- Aviation ministry to take up service tax issue - Mar 15, 2011
- High court directs government to re-negotiate Bangalore airport deal - Apr 16, 2008
- GVK to buy Siemens' Bangalore airport stake - Aug 22, 2011
- US, India sign aviation safety pact - Nov 17, 2011
- Air India to get Rs.4,000 crore budget support for 2012-13 - Mar 16, 2012
- Airlines asked to collect development fee while issuing tickets - Mar 02, 2009
Tags: airport operations, airports authority of india, airports authority of india aai, aviation ministry, bial, civil aviation, concession agreement, contentious issues, dgca, directorate general, domestic travelers, flight operations, international airport ltd, international travelers, karnataka government, karnataka high court, pil, postponement, praful patel, public interest litigation
