NEWS | BAOA calls for immediate rollback of penalties on private aircraft parking at CSIA

The Business Aircraft Operator’s Association (BAOA) has expressed objection to the penalties levied by Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) on general aviation aircraft parking at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), effective from July 1, 2012. The penalty charges range between Rs 1,000-15,000 per hour compared to Rs 20 to Rs 70 per metric tonne per hour charged by The Airports Authority of India earlier. These penalties are applicable on private aircraft registered outside Mumbai, and parked at the domestic airport beyond an agreed number of days. "To restrict the movement of aircraft by levying such penalties is completely unacceptable, illegal, and beyond the purview of private airport developers, without the sanction of requisite government agencies which have been appointed to oversee such levies. An aircraft registered in India can be used anywhere in the country and its movement cannot be restricted to limited airports, as this defeats the very purpose of private aircraft,” said Rohit Kapur, President, BAOA. “It is the government’s duty to create requisite infrastructure for the aircraft to operate. If the present infrastructure is falling short, it does not give any agency the right to penalise the operators. The business aviation sector for many years now has been urging the government to create the needed infrastructure in terms of parking space, separate terminals and hangar. But the requests have been to no avail,” he added All such penalties have to be approved by Airport Economic Regulatory Authority. These penalties cannot be levied by any private companies like MIAL. BAOA said that CSIA has facilities such as Lima parking bay can be used for parking by private operators since it is not being utilised. “Solutions can be found, if there is a will to find them, but unfortunately private airport developers view general and business aviation as a hindrance, and keep coming up with such irrational solutions” saif Kapur. According to BAOA, the charter market is showing a very slow growth and is working hand-to-mouth in terms of revenues due to the current economic slowdown. To put them out of lucrative charter market of Mumbai will make it economically unviable for the operators and will mean a death blow that will dissolve many of these companies.

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