UDF alleges bias in ATF tax relief to Kannur airport;walks out

Alleging bias in the tax cut on aviation fuel announced for Kannur airport, opposition UDF Monday demanded in the Kerala assembly that the LDF government extend the relief to the three other airports in the state.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan defended the decision to levy only one per cent tax on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) for airlines operating from the Kannur airport, saying it was given as a support to the newly commissioned airport.

The Congress-led UDF members, who claimed that Kannur airport had been given the relief because it was in Vijayan's home district, staged a walkout in protest after not getting any assurance from the government on their demand.

Earlier, raising the issue, they said the decision was 'discriminatory' as reduction of the tax to one per cent had been a long-pending demand of the managements of the three other airports -- Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Karipur.

UDF also alleged that Vijayan was showing "over enthusiasm" to support the new airport in Kannur as it was his home district and said he should act as the "chief minister of Kerala, not of Kannur district alone".

In his reply, Vijayan said: "It is true that we have reduced the tax on ATF to one per cent for airlines operating from Kannur. It is to support and encourage the newly commissioned airport and as part of including it in the Centre's UDAN (regional connectivity) scheme."