Cut airport charges: IATA tells India

IATA has also advised Civil Aviation Praful Patel on six priority areas that are critical for Indian aviation.

In his letter to Patel,IATA Director General and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said,The outlook (on airlines) has significantly deteriorated with airline revenues forecast to decline by 15 per cent or $80 billion in 2009. Net losses in 2009 are expected to be considerably higher than previous forecasts at $4.7 billion. Indian carriers too are undergoing extreme financial and operational stress. The six areas that IATA has earmarked as critical focus areas for Indian aviation are safety,global leadership,airport development,aeronautical charges and taxes,technology and airspace infrastructure capacity.

On the agenda of airport infrastructure,Giovanni emphasised on the need for a second airport in Mumbai that remains a critical bottleneck. The current economic slowdown is also an opportunity to restart non-metro airport development program,” he said. On safety,Bisignani has urged Praful Patel that India mandate the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) as additional testimony to its commitment of safety oversight. Im pleased to note the positive actions taken by the DGCA in recent months, he said. However,he did not comment on the threat of India being downgraded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for consistently not adhering to the safety standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

India is not just a great market it must be a great leader. India has emerged as a critical driver of growth in the international aviation market and must now play an active leadership role in shaping the international aviation agenda, he said on Indias role in the global aviation industry. IATA also urged the minister to renew the governments focus on building a next generation airspace infrastructure on the lines of improvements in the countrys airport infrastructure.