The Association of Private Airport Operators (APAO) has written to the civil aviation ministry seeking an alleviation package to deal with higher expenses incurred to prevent the spread of the disease such as screening of passengers and disinfection.
The body has also asked for the levy of a ‘nominal passenger facilitation charge’ as part of airline tickets to cover the extra charges.‘The trade impact of the coronavirus (CoV) epidemic for India is estimated to be about $348 million and the country figures among the top 5 economies most affected as the slowdown of manufacturing in China disrupts world trade, according to a UN report,’ the APAO said in a letter to the ministry of civil aviation. The government has banned the entry of foreigners into India till 15 April into unless they are on diplomatic or work visas.
With a fear of COVID-19 epidemic spreading among frequent fliers and holidaymakers, airports in India have seen lower international traffic in the first two months of this year compared to 2019. Fearing an impact on their revenues, major airports have asked the government to be allowed to levy a fee on each flight ticket, ‘airport operator alleviation package’ to cover their fixed expenses as revenues fall.
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