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As most of the metro airports are congested due to increase in air traffic, the move will help in allotting parking slots to other carriers.
Airport Authority of India (AAI) has proposed that airlines must surrender parking slots if they sell or lease their aircraft so that airports can accommodate other airlines, especially budget carriers, he said requesting anonymity.
In the past, the government had rejected proposals of several non-scheduled airlines to import aircraft due to unavailability of parking slots at Mumbai and Delhi airports. It allows an operator to import a jet only, if parking space for the aircraft at the airport is available.
“Airlines, which dry lease their aircraft for 2-3 years, should surrender parking slots. In case the plane is on wet lease (including crew) for six months they should be allowed to retain the slots,” the senior civil aviation official said.
While Jet Airways has leased out seven aircraft in the past few months to foreign airlines, Kingfisher has surrendered at least four jets to the lessor. Domestic airlines including non-scheduled operators have “disburdened” themselves of nearly 50 aircraft in the last one year, he added.
As most of the parking slots are cornered by older airlines, new airlines are forced to park their aircraft in far-flung cities at night. But during the day, they have to fly an extra mile to start their operations from metros. In the process, the airlines have to burn extra fuel, leading to escalation of operating cost.
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