Party leader seeks House panel’s intervention to stall closure of Hyderabad & Banglaore airports
Party leader seeks House panel’s intervention to stall closure of Hyderabad & Banglaore airportsNEW DELHI: Even as UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is set to inaugurate the swanky new greenfield airport at Shamshabad in Hyderabad on March 14, the CPI(M) has kicked up a controversy over the reported move to close down two old airports at Begumpet and Bangalore.
Former CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member and CITU secretary Dipankar Mukherjee has written a letter to the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture, which is scrutinising the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) Bill, 2007, seeking its intervention to stall the “executive action” of closing down the two airports under the Airports Authority of India (AAI). He said the move violates provisions of the Competition Act, 2002.
Mukherjee said the precondition of closure of old airports “goes totally against para 3 of the objects of the bill,” which stipulates “an independent economic regulator, namely, the AERA, may be established to create a level-playing field and foster healthy competition amongst all airports to encourage investment in airport facilities to regulate tariffs for aeronautical services etc.”
AAI’s additional general manager, commercial, had written to AAI managing director, Hyderabad, on January 8, regarding “the proposed closure of the Begumpet airport for commercial operation in view of the opening of new airport at Shamshabad”, Mukherjee said.
The CPI(M) leader said “no precondition of closure of a running airport is allowed for building greenfiled airports. He urged the committee to give recommendations to ensure competition and level-playing field between the AAI airports and the private ones.
Mukherjee said the decision to close the airports be stalled till the “statement of objects and reasons” of the bill is scrutinised by parliament.
The statement of objects and reasons inter alia says: “As a result of this initiative, greenfield airports are coming up at Bangalore and Hyderabad in public-private-partnership. A private airport is already operational at Kochi. Delhi and Mumbai airports have also been restructured through the joint venture route for modernisation and development. The trends indicate growing competition and requirement of level-playing field amongst different categories of airports in future.”
He says it is “shocking that before the bill is examined by the committee and passed by parliament, the very concept of ‘competition’ and ‘level-playing field’ as stated in the bill is being defeated by the reported steps being taken for closure of existing airports of Hyderabad and Bangalore owned by AAI.”
Air travellers would be deprived of their choice, in-spite of the fact that they have to traverse much more distance to reach the new airports and also to pay higher user-development fees for the same, he said.
k_benedict@dnaindia.net 
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