Air Deccan levies congestion surcharge

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel's call to the airlines to withdraw the newly-introduced Rs 150 congestion charge seems to have fallen on deaf ears.The airlines have not retracted from their position. Even Air Deccan joined the group. Only the state-owned Indian has not chosen to levy the charge.Airlines lose Rs 2,500 for every minute a Boeing or an Airbus aircraft hovers over an airport. If the plane is a turboprop ATR, the cost is about Rs 750 a minute."On a Mumbai-Delhi flight, Rs 150 doesn't cover the cost of congestion. The cost could be Rs 1,000. What we are doing is averaging out (the loss across sectors), as we can't possibly charge Rs 1,000 as congestion surcharge (on one ticket)," said Kingfisher Airlines CEO Vijay Mallya.

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