Cabinet clears bill to amend AERA Act

The Cabinet today approved amending the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) Act which would change the definition of 'major airports' and help the regulator function more efficiently, according to sources.
AERA was set up as an independent regulator for protecting the interests of airports, airlines and passengers.
Sources said the Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has cleared the AERA (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
The bill would ease the pressure on AERA and help it perform duties with greater clarity, they added.
Currently, major airports with an annual capacity to handle one-and-a-half million passengers come under the purview of AERA.

With the amendment, the definition of major airports would be changed to any aerodrome which has or is designated to have annual passenger capacity of three-and-a-half million, sources said.

During the period from 2009-17, the number of major airports increased from 12 to 27.
Sources said that many airports come under the purview of AERA, which makes it difficult to efficiently determine tariffs and monitor service standards of major airports since resources with the regulator are limited.
The amendments in the Act would help in addressing such concerns, they added.
The country's civil aviation sector is among the fastest growing in the world and domestic passenger growth has been in high double-digits for more than two years.