Thursday, December 08, 2011

Jet Airways charges for carrying firearms on board

NEW DELHI: Jet Airways might be in trouble with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for levying additional charges on passengers carrying licensed arms on board.

The matter came to light last month when a participant of the 55{+t}{+h} National Shooting Championship in Pune was not permitted to board her flight until she paid Rs 5,000 for carrying an air pistol, even though the gun was checked in.

Koninica Dasgupta was traveling on Jet Airways flight 9W-365 from Delhi to Pune. She arrived at IGI Airport at 6.45am for her 8.30am flight and after standing in line for 45 minutes, reached the check-in counter around 7.30am.

"The staff at the check-in counter told me that I would have to pay Rs 5,000 for the Steyr LP10 air pistol that I was carrying, as per a Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) rule. I was carrying all the requisite documents, including a circular about the competition organized by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) and membership cards issued by the NRAI and the Delhi State Rifle Association. My boarding card was finally issued to me at 8.15am after I made the payment in cash. Another participant was similarly charged Rs 15,000 for carrying three guns," she said.

DGCA officials denied that they had asked airlines to levy any such charge and said that they would take up the matter with Jet Airways. The secretary of NRAI Rajeev Bhatia also complained that more shooters had faced this problem with Jet, the only airline that levies a charge for carrying arms.

Meanwhile, Jet Airways officials told TOI that the charge was not based on a DGCA order but was being levied by the airline directly.

A spokesperson said, "Jet Airways and Jetlite levy a charge on passengers for carrying firearms onboard its domestic and international flights. Passengers are exempt from paying this charge if they are serving with the defence forces, paramilitary forces and police and if traveling on duty and carrying an official order issued by their departments concerned authorizing the 'carriage of weapon and/or ammunition for official purpose'."

Sportspersons traveling to participate in a competition or to represent the country in any event are also exempted from paying the charges if they have valid identification documents, valid license for arms and ammunition and written documents issued by the president or secretary of the sports club sponsoring him/her for an event.

The spokesperson said Dasgupta "could not produce valid and bonafide documents, including an official invitation, and hence could not be exempt from the charges levied on her". The airline justified the charge saying it was being done "for making available a dedicated resource responsible for carrying firearms onboard and for managing this process".

DGCA officials said no such order had been issued by it or any clearance taken for levying additional charges. They also said the airline would be asked to give an explanation on the matter.

 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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