Ministry opposes UK's plan to charge departure tax per aircraft

The civil aviation ministry is against the proposal of the UK government to charge departure tax on airlines on the basis of the number of aircraft flying to and from the country, instead of the number of seats filled in every aircraft.

The prevalent practice is that airlines have to pay between Rs 4,000 and Rs 4,500 per filled seat as departure tax.

Meanwhile, London’s airports have started charging £416 for using its VIP lounge at Terminal 5, the newest such facility. “There is no such charge levied at any other airport across the world,” said a senior ministry official.

Departure tax being charged on per-aircraft basis would mean that an airline would have to pay for all the seats available in an aircraft and not just the filled seats. Even if the load factor for an airline is below flying capacity of its aircraft, it would have to shell out for the vacant seats. This would ultimately increase the fare on the routes.

“This proposal is just not feasible. How can one be charged for unfilled seats? It will be suicidal for airlines during non-peak seasons, when the aircraft go vacant. We have sought a report on the proposal from the Indian High Commission in London and will take up the matter after we get it,” the official said, on condition of anonymity.

The three Indian carriers — Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines — have 17 flights to London every week, all to Heathrow Airport.

The official added the tax issue could cause further worries for Indian carriers because they did not fly at preferred hours of the day. “The British Airways flight from Delhi flies in the afternoon and reaches London in the morning, whereas Indian carriers reach there in the evening, which is not the time many travellers would like to fly. Therefore, British Airways flights go full, while our carriers fly with vacant seats,” he added.

“Many other countries are also opposing the tax proposal of the UK government, as no country levies such a tax,” added the official.