The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : State to demand minimum user fee

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Sunday, Apr 27, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

State to demand minimum user fee

Anil Kumar Sastry

BIAL representatives and government officials to meet on April 29

Inspection under way at new airport
Date of starting operations to depend on report

BANGALORE: The State Government will demand levy of minimum user development fee for domestic passengers at the Bangalore International Airport, during the renegotiations slated for April 29 in New Delhi.

The final inspection of the new airport is still being conducted by officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The inspection, which started on Thursday, is being conducted to ascertain whether the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) is prepared to handle commercial operations in full scale.

Officials of the Central and State Governments and representatives of the Bangalore International Airport Limited will meet according to the suggestion made by the Karnataka High Court on renegotiations with regard to user development fee and retaining of the HAL Airport for commercial operations.

While the BIAL initially proposed a user development fee of Rs. 995 for international passengers and Rs. 675 for domestic passengers, the Ministry has prevailed upon the former not to collect any such fee from domestic passengers for the first three months.

Sources in the Secretariat told The Hindu here on Saturday that the Government was in favour of minimum user development fee for domestic passengers because the BIAL would not be able to make both ends meets without any fee. After all, the State Government was also on the board of BIAL, they said. The BIAL had said that it would not be feasible to opt for a “zero user development fee” even for domestic passengers. The user development fee was negotiable and the BIAL could even stretch the discounted period, it had said.

On the issue of retaining the HAL Airport for commercial operations, the sources said that the Government’s stand could not be disclosed now because the Assembly elections were round the corner.

HAL Airport representatives would be participating in the renegotiations and the Government would present its views appropriately keeping in view of the interests of the State and the public, the sources added.

The official date of commencing commercial operations at the new airport will depend on the inspection report although the BIAL has said that it is prepared to start operations from May 11.

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