There appears to be some light at the end of the tunnel as the Appellate Tribunal of AERA has responded positively to the appeal by BAOA made earlier against the penalty imposed on business and general aviation aircraft for overstay in their allotted parking slot

The civil aviation industry and particularly the owners of business aircraft and air charter operators were left dismayed and somewhat bewildered when in mid-January this year, the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) approved a 154 per cent increase in aeronautical charges at Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) as also for the first time introduced a steep user development fee (UDF) on passengers flying out of the city. The aeronautical charges include those for parking, landing, fuel throughput and common check-in terminals. The move will make the GVK Infrastructure-led MIAL as expensive as Delhi International Airport.

The Business Aircraft Operators’ Association (BAOA), an organisation of private and charter aircraft owners of India, has moved the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority Appellate Tribunal challenging the increase of parking charges at MIAL which was approved by the AERA. The association claims that the increase in parking charges was approved by AERA on January 15 after having rejected it earlier. BAOA’s case is that the increase in parking charges up to 50 times was earlier disallowed by AERA retrospectively with effect from July 1, 2012. Not only does the BAOA consider the hefty increase unreasonable and untenable, its contention is that the orders have been issued “without conducting any study and citing any reasons”. As per Rohit Kapur, President of the BAOA, “This has become a matter of survival for the industry. If such unreasonable charges are allowed, half the existing members and non-scheduled operators would have to pack their bags and look for alternative business opportunities elsewhere.” This will be a severe blow for an industry already engaged in a struggle for survival.

Also, MIAL has for some time now been penalising owners of private and charter aircraft who fail to vacate their parking slot in time heavily. In the last two years or so, the airport operator has collected a whopping Rs. 4 crore by way of fines on this account. BAOA has been battling this action by MIAL challenging it in the Appellate Tribunal of the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority without success. However, finally, there appears to be some light at the end of the tunnel as the Appellate Tribunal of AERA has responded positively to the appeal by BAOA made earlier against the penalty imposed on business and general aviation aircraft for overstay in their allotted parking slot. The Tribunal has issued a notice in the case and has directed MIAL to submit an undertaking within a week that it will deposit the amount it has collected or will collect in the future through penalty imposed on overstaying aircraft into an interest bearing account to be maintained separately. In case BAOA finally succeeds in its appeal, the members of the association would be entitled to reimbursement along with interest at nine per cent from the interest-bearing account opened by MIAL.