Aerobridges cost people dear

Aerobridges cost people dear
Bengaluru,


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Call it stepmotherly treatment, lack of planning or whatever else, but domestic passengers, particularly the young and the aged, are facing inconvenience at the international airport in Devanahalli on account of the airport’s aerobridge policy.
Aerobridges save time for airlines and passengers. But at the BIA, only international airlines and domestic premium airlines have taken up the facility. The low cost airlines, especially, have not. They use buses to ply passengers to and from the aircraft to the passenger terminal, resulting in not only delays, but also airside traffic management issues.

In fact, passengers landing from domestic flights have complained that sometimes it takes as much as 45 minutes between the time the flight lands and the time they are able to get out of the airport.

Officials of private airlines, who did not want to be quoted, complained that the BIA is the only airport in the country that charges for the aerobridge facility. The BIAL has eight aerobridges and charges the airlines a minimum of Rs 4,500 per hour to provide the aerobridge and power supply.

BIA is the only airport to separate aerobridge fees from other service charges. Other airports collect aerobridge services as part of infrastructure fee.

Passengers like Ashok, a Mumbai-based medical expert also say: “Last week, it took me nearly 45 minutes to reach the baggage area from the time my flight landed.” The airlines are unwilling to pay for the aerobridges. “The aircraft maintenance and fuel charges have gone up. The HAL airport did not charge at all for the aerobridges. Moreover, when flights get delayed, the aerobridge charges go further up at BIA,” said a manager of a private airline who did not want to be named.

The use of too many buses on the airside is a problem for the BIAL too, especially in terms of traffic management. Airport authorities are about to start a ‘Driving Discipline’ campaign for bus drivers.