Rentals down at airstrip, but private operators still unhappy

Heeding the long standing demand of private aviation operators, the state government has revised usage charges for the Jakkur airstrip.

The tourism and infrastructure department, which is in charge of the Government Flying Training School (GFTS) at Jakkur, has significantly reduced rentals and parking charges. However, landing charges considered to be "through the roof" remain the same, much to the chagrin of operators.

"The government has rationalized the fees following operators' request. While the parking charges and rentals have been revised, there is no change in the landing charg es," Aerodrome operations manager A N Vishwanatha told Bangalore Mirror.

According to the flying school's authorities, the government has maintained the landing charges at Rs 3,000 per landing for single engine non microlite aircraft, and Rs 200 per landing for microlites, much higher than the two other airports in the city.

The parking charges for microlites have been increased from Rs 3.15 per hour to Rs 10; non-microlite aircraft can park at Rs 50 per hour, a neat 50 per cent reduction from the earlier Rs 100 per hour. The rentals - fee for space taken in hangars to park the aircraft - have been reduced from Rs 1,000 per square metre per year to Rs 605 per square metre per year.

Some of the private operators operating out of Benga luru such as Deccan Charters, Jupiter Aviation Services, Agni Aerosports use the space in Jakkur aerodrome to park their aircraft.

However, the revision has not gone down too well with the aviation operators who feel the new fee rates are still way too high. Compared to KIA and HAL airports, the fees levied by Jakkur airstrip are considered the costliest.

According to Julian Dsouza, associate vice president of Jupiter Aviation Services, what Jakkur airstrip is charging is still much higher than the other airports in the country which have better facilities. "In Bengaluru, three airports charge three different rates, which is quite ridiculous. We have been pleading with the state government to bring down the fees. Why will Ipay Rs 3,000 at Jakkur as landing fees where there are no facilities when I can land at the international airport by paying Rs 1,300 and at HAL by paying Rs 1,000 per landing?" said DSouza, whose company has 10,000 feet space in Jakkur hangars to park two aircraft.

Compared to the revised parking charge which is Rs 50 per hour for a single engine, non-microlite aircraft, HAL airport charges are still low at Rs 30 per hour.

Operators feel that the state government is not keeping in tune with the baseline prices charged by other airports in the country and has fixed the fees arbitrarily.

"If I get my aircraft for servicing and park at Jakkur for a week, I would end up paying around Rs 17,000 and now with the revised fee, it will be around Rs 9,000. It is still a big deal for small operators and does not make economic sense to use the Jakkur airstrip," said another aviation company honcho.

Elevated road painted red

Some damage control exercise has been carried out on a portion of the 22-km elevated expressway built adjacent to the airstrip which was considered a safety threat for flying operations.

At a height of about 40 feet, the elevated road falls on the landing path and was perceived as a threat for small planes like Cessna used for flying classes.

After the flying operations were suspended, a technical committee comprising aviation experts that was constituted to review the issue had suggested painting the obstacle red.

"Fifty metres on both sides of the flyover that faces the runway has been painted red, making it easy for the pilots to identify the obstacle. We were pushing for this measure since two years and now it has been done,'' says Vishwanatha, who was formerly with international airport ATC.

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