AAI,state at odds over footing security bill of airports

According to sources,AAI has proposed that to collect the Passenger Services Fee (PSF) on domestic tickets at these airports and provide it to state government for payment of salary of the CISF personnel deployed there.

As per the AAI proposal,any additional amount needed over and above the collected PSF to pay the salary,should be borne by the government,said an official in UP Civil Aviation Department.

The AAI has put the condition in the draft of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that it has to sign with UP government for development of the airports proposed in Saifai (Etawah),Moradabad,Faizabad,Meerut,Allahabad,Agra,Bareilly and Kanpur.

The AAI wants UP to pay CISF personnel’s salaries for at least 10 years. “The AAI will take up responsibility after 10 years,when the airports start making profit,” an official said.

However,sources said,the state government,through senior officials including Civil Aviation Department Secretary Anita Singh and Director Devendra Swaroop,has informed AAI chairman V P Agrawal that it does not agree to AAI proposal.

Instead,the state government has offered to provide its own forces for additional security at the airports,sources said.

“The response from AAI is awaited,” the state official said. Sources said that the delay in consensus from both sides on the issue may delay the signing of MoU.

An official in UP Civil Aviation Department said that AAI collects PSF at the airports and uses it to fund the cost of providing security there. “As these airports will be new and passenger movement will be less,PSF will also be less and airport may run in deficit. AAI does not want to bear that loss,” he added.