Indian air passengers will pay extra air charges from now on

Saroj Dutta, Executive Director, Jet Airways, India’s second largest international airlines, said that Indian air passengers will have to pay airport charges that has been hiked in recent times. Already Indian aviation sector is facing huge losses and now, Indian people will bear this extra burden. Mr Dutta said that the increase in aeronautical charges will further worsen the situation and it would affect the volume and growth of passengers using Indian airways. Mr. Dutta said that this was not the right time to increase airport charges.

Mr. Dutta also announced to cut Jet Airways’ capacity where it is possible and go for shorter routes instead of longer ones. Already the company laid off 12% of its workforce last year and this time it will be 10%. He also said that the airlines will cut staff salary, freeze on hiring and would not fill out vacancies created by resignations and retirements. The company will make its next step looking at the next major industry trends.

Last year, several Indian private airlines have stopped selling tickets through travel agencies to cut cost and this agitated the travel agencies in the country. The airlines are now laying off people including pilots which also created serious agitation among Indian pilots who do not receive high payments like pilots who are hired from abroad. Moreover, getting pilots license is not so easy in India. Procuring a pilot license costs a hopping Rs. 2 million in India. Many parents borrowed huge money to send their children to these schools. As the private airlines are not buying any new airplanes, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is not giving license to any other pilots.

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(This entry was first published in March 2009. Because of a technical problem, the entry had to be deleted and I am reposting again now.)