The judgment to not use aerobridges for boarding and deboarding an aircraft was causing inconvenience to aged passengers, the panel counted.
Private airlines in India
Private airlines in India are choosing not to use aerobridges for boarding and deboarding passengers to save money, a Parliamentary committee expressed on Monday, informed PTI.
An aerobridge is a moveable tunnel that connects airport buildings to aircraft for boarding or deboarding passengers. Airlines have to spend for the airport terminal using aerobridge facilities.
Ministry of Civil Aviation
In 2018, the Ministry of Civil Aviation had issued a circular directing all Indian airlines to use an aerobridge, if known, for boarding and deboarding passengers for their convenience,
In its report tabled before the Rajya Sabha during the Budget Session, the panel on Tuesday told that the airlines were charging passengers for aerobridge facilities but not using it. Elderly passengers have been forced to operate the stairs to board and deboard the flights.
“The committee deplores this apathetic and unreasonable attitude of the private airlines and strongly recommends that its circular on the aforesaid subject may be strictly enforced,” the Parliamentary Committee on Transport, Tourism, and Culture, led by Bharatiya Janata Party MP TG Venkatesh, told.
- The panel recommended that the civil aviation ministry should conduct regular surprise checks to ensure compliance of their 2018 circular.
- In case there is a default, the concerned private airlines should be penalised,” the committee tod.
Telling that other airlines were charging varied fares for the exact distance and duration, the panel requested the Union government to confirm that the passengers are “not fleeced in the garb of commercialization”, said the Deccan Herald.
It also described the airlines’ decision to charge extra money for selecting seats as “arbitrary and unjustifiable”.The committee agreed that the civil aviation sector grows in an open market and private players should be given a free hand. However, it told that the Aircraft Rules, 1937, especially mentions that the fares should be reasonable and should maintain reasonable profit.
In the above context, the committee feels that the reply of the ministry expressing that air travel is purely a contractual matter between the airline and the passenger, is not at all justified,” it told.
“The committee is of the opinion that a balance also must be maintained between commercial goods of the airlines and the interests of the passengers.”
It asked stakeholders to consider providing a “small complimentary water bottle keeping in view the tradition of the country to give the highest regard to guests and offer water on arrival” as well as a “small packet of biscuits” free of cost to every passenger.
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