NEW DELHI: In a bid to provide reprieve to airlines affected by the US-Iran war, the aviation ministry has directed all 34 major airports to reduce landing and parking charges for domestic flights by 25% for three months. Accordingly, Airports Economic Regulatory Authority on Tuesday issued an order directing the operators of airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and others to do so with immediate effect. With assembly elections in crucial states like Kerala and West Bengal on the horizon, the aviation ministry is making all possible attempts to ensure that domestic airfare hikes don’t defy gravity. The hike in domestic ATF was capped at 25% this month. The ministry made a rare intervention in airport tariffs, given that a majority of them are run on a PPP model.The order reads: “Landing and parking charges (part of aeronautical tariff) at all major airports shall be reduced by 25% from the prevailing tariff. This reduction comes into immediate effect and will be applicable on all domestic flights for a period of three months. The decision shall be reviewed prior to completion of the three-month period. Any under-recovery from aggregate revenue requirement will be trued up during the tariff determination of the next control period.“This month, oil marketing PSUs hiked aviation turbine fuel base price for domestic and international flights by 25% and over 100%, respectively. The Air India group and IndiGo have hiked their fuel surcharge. Coupled with airspace restrictions to the West that force airlines to take much longer routes to Europe and America, apart from far fewer flights on lucrative Gulf routes and a weak rupee, airlines have been badly hit.
