State govt increases landing and parking charges of aircraft

In an apparent bid to mop up additional revenues this election season, the state government has made an upward revision of landing as well as parking charges for aircraft and choppers in the state.

A senior official in the state Civil Aviation Department said on Monday that a landing charge of Rs 59 per tonne has been fixed for aircraft and choppers owned by any private party or state government (barring the Gujarat government). A parking charge of Rs 1.58 per hour per tonne would also be levied. Besides, an administrative charge of Rs 300 will be levied on every landing. No charge will be levied on aircraft owned by the Gujarat government.

The official said the landing charge fixed by the government last year was around Rs 30 per tonne, while the parking charge was a meagre 90 paise only.

Ajay Chauhan, Director, Gujarat Civil Aviation Department, told Newsline that the government revises the charges at regular intervals as is being done by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The upward revision has nothing to do with the Lok Sabha elections, he said.

Sources in the department, however, agreed that leaders of different political parties are expected to make frequent trips to Gujarat for campaigning on private aircraft. This will help the Department earn additional revenue. There are over 45 operational helipads and three airstrips (one each at Amreli, Mehsana and Mandvi) in the state.