Praful Patel pushes for relief to airlines

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel expressed his “disappointment” over the approach of various departments of the Centre as well as the State Government in not bringing down taxes on aircraft turbine fuel (ATF) in order to reduce the burden on the airlines. The “phenomenally high” prices of ATF in the international markets were causing an adverse impact on government and private airlines. The Ministries and the State Governments concerned did not understand its long-term implication on the development of the aviation sector. “It is disturbing to note that nobody is taking a positive view of the developments. It is a bad phase and everyone has to work for finding a solution,” he told journalists after declaring open ‘India Aviation 2008’ at the Begumpet airport here on Wednesday. Mr. Patel said the Civil Aviation Ministry was trying to find ways and means to reduce tax on ATF to provide relief to airlines. It was also making efforts to reduce landing, parking and route navigation charges, though for a limited period. He announced that steps were being taken to infuse equity of Rs. 1,500 crore into Air India, the country’s national carrier, to make it a stronger entity. This was in addition to a Rs. 1,000-crore loan sought by Air India. “Air India has government equity of Rs. 145 crore while its purchase orders are in excess of Rs. 40,000 crore,” he said. Referring to the alliance between Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, the Minister said the government was yet to know what they were seeking from the Centre. “We don’t have any issue if the understanding is a working relationship, not a merger. But everything should be within the existing DGCA rules,” he said. Answering a question, he said there was no scope for cartelisation by the bigger airlines as there were several routes where one or two airlines had a dominant presence, but the Ministry would promptly respond appropriately to any such efforts. “There are of course safeguards for the passengers,” he said. Asked about the termination of workforce in Jet Airways, Mr. Patel said his Ministry was not competent to speak about HR issues relating to the airlines.