346 hike threatens Delhi hub status
Lufthansa boss in South Asia has warned authorities that the 346% hike in airport charges at New Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport will threaten its status as an aviation hub.
Speaking to The Hindu newspaper, Lufthansa Director for South Asia, Axel Hilgers, said; “Today it is Delhi and tomorrow it will be Mumbai where a similar problem could crop up. This could kill Delhi’s plan to become an aviation hub. The airlines will be forced to re-work their strategy and look for other options in the Gulf countries, South-East Asia or even Istanbul which is also emerging as a contender on this front.”
India’s Board of Airlines (BOA) will convene this month to thrash out a common strategy to address the tariff increase. A small group of members have already submitted a petition of complaint to the Delhi High Court, and will try to bring other airlines onside to contest the “arbitrary and unjust” tariff increase. Among the complainants are Lufthansa group airlines, Air France, KLM, United, and Virgin, which together carry about 30% of the outbound traffic from India.
Hilgers termed the hike in charges as unreasonable and unacceptable. “A normal hike according to inflation index is fine but such a massive hike is unacceptable. It is too much and burns us to the utmost limit. The BOA will be meeting this month to work on a strategy.”