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Parliament


Bill to amend definition of ‘major airports’ passed in RS

Bill to amend definition of ‘major airports’ passed in RS

New Delhi, July 16 (UNI) A Bill seeking to amend the definition of 'major airport' to those which have annual passengers throughput in excess of three and a half million, from the present 1.5 million, was on Tuesday passed in the Rajya Sabha.
The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed by the house by a vioce vote.
The Bill proposes to allow the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) to bid out any new airport at a pre-determined tariff structure.
Replying to a discussion on the Bill in the House, minister of state for civil aviation Hardeep Singh Puri sought to refute the view that the civil aviation sector was going through a turbulence.
‘’After April 2019 when a big airline collapsed, there were 520 airline companies in the country. Now, we have 580 companies. Air fares have gone down,’’he said.
On members criticising disinvestment of Air India, he said,’’the Maharaja of India was once the pride of India. But, at the end of the financial year 2018-19, provisional figures of Air India indicates major losses. It is because the airline has come to incur an unsustainable debt burden.’’
On the jet airways crisis, he said,’’the government cannot take on responsibility of the failure of a private party. But, the government has spoken to other private airlines in the country to take on the staff of Jet Airways and many have already been employed, he says.’’
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