Govt may up airlines fares in peak hours

In a bid to decongest airspace over three major airports, the government plans to increase charges on airlines which operate flights during peak hours and reduce it during the non-peak timings.

The burden on airlines due to the increase in airport and navigation charges could in turn be passed on to consumers travelling during peak hours.

"We are working on a clear system of incentives or disincentives for airlines operating services during three peak hours in the morning and four in the evening," Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla told reporters in New Delhi.

The airports on which these charges would be effective are Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The peak hours have been identified as 7 am to 10 am and 6 pm to 10 pm in the evening.

Chawla, who took over a month ago, indicated that airport and navigation charges could even be doubled during peak hours and halved between midnight and 5 am.

Chawla said the increase in these charges would be effective from the last Sunday of March, when the summer schedule of airlines begins.

He, however, said the hike in charges would 'essentially be a short-term solution'.

"In the long-term, we have to provide more facilities like additional runways and rapid-exit taxiways to overcome congestion. This should be in place by June 2008," he said.

Asked about the 'grandfather rights' of the airlines to operate in peak hours, the secretary agreed these airlines had a right "but the charges can always be calibrated".

Grandfather rights are those under which airlines operating on peak-hour slots for several years can claim their right on them. Three airports, he said, were handling between 15 to 20 per cent of excess traffic during peak hours compared to their capacities. 

There would be no difference in the charges for low-cost carriers and full-frill ones during peak hours, though these would vary for different types of aircraft they operate during this period to these airports, Chawla added.

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