THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has written to Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju demanding a rollback of user fee imposed at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. Chennithala demanded a re-look at the Airport Authority of India’s (AAI) decision to impose a user fee of Rs 450 on domestic travellers and to hike the user fee for international tavellers to Rs 950.
The Opposition leader said the hike would have an adverse impact on hundreds of ordinary air passengers. The user fee, which was confined only to international travellers earlier, has been extended to domestic passengers as well. Along with the proposal, the Airports Authority of India was also planning to hike the user fee by four per cent every year. For the past five years, the AAI has not undertaken any development activity or introduced any new facility at the airport, Chennithala said.
The Opposition Leader said the user fee was usually imposed on only when a major development activity is carried out or a new facility is introduced.As an important airport located in the state capital, lakhs of travellers transit through the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. If a high user fee is implemented, travellers will avoid using the airport and altogether. This will have a long term impact on the airport’s development, he said.Taking these issues into consideration, Chennithala urged the minister to prevail upon the AAI to shelve the decision to impose user fee on domestic travellers and increase the user fee for international travellers.