Airports may face fee cuts for poor passenger service

Airports may face deductions in user development fees collected from air travellers if passenger amenities fall short, the country’s airport tariff regulator has proposed in its first draft of performance standards focused on passenger experience.

“It is high time that there’s a mechanism to evaluate airports on service delivery benchmarks, especially when airport infrastructure is being funded by users to a large extent,” Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) Chairman S.K.G. Rahate said at a public consultation here on a paper on performance standards for airports.

In a first, the AERA plans to appoint a third party to monitor the service delivery. At present, airports audit the services through a third-party hired by them.

Service delivery parameters that will be considered include wait time at security queues at terminal gate, check-in time, security screening inside airport, availability of help desks, time taken to travel between various terminals, cloak room, sensory rooms for travellers with special needs, as well as availability of e-gates, Digi Yatra, and self-baggage drop. Cleanliness levels, conduct of airport staff, and availability of WiFi will also be looked into. The draft also focuses on amenities for persons with reduced mobility, and has provided a checklist that airports will have to follow, which includes accessible airport approach and washrooms, and designated seating.

At the Delhi airport, domestic passengers pay ₹129 as user development fee, international passengers pay ₹650 when travelling economy class and ₹810 for business class travel. The Bengaluru airport charges ₹550 as user fee for domestic flyers and ₹1,500 for international passengers. The fee at the Mumbai airport is ₹175 for domestic travellers and ₹695 for international flyers.

Review every six months

Failure to meet performance metrics could result in a rebate of up to 5% on the tariff collected by airports such that it results in reduced user development fee. In airports where user fee is not levied, the AERA proposes to lower aircraft landing charges. The rebate will be determined after a six-monthly review, following which a revised tariff order would be issued by the regulator.

In addition, high performance in certain standards could result in a bonus to the airport operator of up to 1.25% on their tariff through a credit system that will be used to offset applicable penalties from the AERA.

Uniform standards

While concessionaire agreements signed between the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and private entities (which are leased airports under public-private partnerships for operations, management and development) do have service benchmarks, this is the first attempt to create a uniform set of standards for all airports in the country.

Mr. Rahate told The Hindu that penalising airports through a cut in user development fee resulting in savings for air travellers is in line with the passenger centricity of the entire move. Such a mechanism would be integrated into the tariff determination process that is undertaken for a five-year cycle for major airports.

A major airport is one which records or has the capacity to handle 35 lakh or more passengers per annum, or one which is notified by the government as one. There are over 30 major airports in the country, which altogether handle more than 90% of the passenger traffic.