Make flying affordable, says Mallya

New Delhi: Kingfisher Airlines' promoter Vijay Mallya on Monday said the "real question" facing the government and the aviation industry was to make flying affordable. Speaking at the India Economic Summit here he addressed a number of issues faced by the civil aviation industry today.

Replying to questions at the session on 'Travails of Travel and Tourism in India' he said the Airports Authority of India was engaged in the task of developing and modernising about 50 airports. "We do not need fancy terminals. We do not need all that razmatazz. What we need is a simple and safe runway and navigational aids that function. If these facilities are there, connectivity is no problem," he said.

He favoured continued use of the old Hyderabad and Bangalore airports for low-cost operations. If the government decided to keep the old airports at the two cities operational after the new ones became operational, "they could have been used as low-cost airports," Mallya said.

He said the "real question" was to make flying affordable, and "that's a question of taxation." He said the government should cut taxes on jet fuel as well as reduce various airport charges.

Regarding fuel surcharge, he accepted that the fuel surcharge component was many a time "higher than the basic airfare. And airfares are high because of high taxes.

"Nowhere in the world do you pay 20 to 30 per cent sales tax (on jet fuel). When the global crude price was $147 a barrel, we had to pay 30 per cent over and above this price... Government has overtaxed us constantly," he said, adding, that was why flying to Singapore or Bangkok was cheaper than flying to Goa or Kerala.

Maintained that "there is no question of layoffs" Mallya also said if the government helped the aviation industry make a turnaround, more job opportunities would open up.