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Keep old airports for short haul: panel

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: A parliamentary standing committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture has recommended that the old airports in Hyderabad and Bangalore be used for short haul instead of being shut down.

Addressing journalists after presenting the Committee’s 152nd report on functioning of private airports and related issues, the panel’s Chairman and senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury said the old airports were being used for VIP flights, non-schedule flights and helicopter taxis.

He said the old airports were not in use after their closure, although substantial expenditure was incurred on developing their infrastructure. The Committee was informed that due to the closure of HAL airport in Bangalore, the estimated revenue loss to Airport Authority of India was around Rs.389 crore in 2007-08. Similary, due to the closure of Begumpet airport, AAI lost Rs. 221.15 crore during this period.

Closure of old airports coupled with the levy of User Development Fee (UDF) with high taxi and bus fares to the Greenfield airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad meant thattravellers were compelled to use other means of transport like road and trains for short distance destinations, Mr. Yechury said. The UDF has, in fact, rendered air travel from these new airports costlier, both in terms of time and money. He said the Committee has recommended that the UDF imposed on passengers may be withdrawn immediately.

In its report, the Committee noted that the closure of HAL airport in Bangalore led to loss of jobs of thousands of direct and indirect workers including trolley retrievers, small-time vendors, taxi and auto drivers and loaders.

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