Why Bangalore may struggle to become an aviation hub

Mumbai: On July 3, AirAsia's CEO Tony Fernandes said he wants to make Bengaluru an international aviation hub like Dubai. The comment, unlikely backed by a firm operational plan, nevertheless shows AirAsia's ambitious plans for India.
India has so far failed to utilise its potential to become a hub due to policy paralysis and high costs. But Fernandes is hopeful that will change.
The Malaysian carriers's local unit has already shifted a large part of its operations and staff to Bengaluru from Chennai and later has ambitions of flying from there to nearby foreign locations.
Bangalore has already given enough incentive to AirAsia to make the move from Chennai. Last month, it got approval from the Airport Economic

HC stays proceedings in AERAAT over airport charges

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court today stayed proceedings in the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority Appellate Tribunal (AERAAT) in relation to a plea challenging Bangalore International Aiport Ltd's (BIAL) decision to start collecting aeronautical services charges from airlines.
Common User Terminal Equipment (CUTE), Common User Self Service (CUSS) and Baggage Reconciliation System (BRS) charges, categorised as aeronautical services, were to be recovered from airlines from July 1, 2014 as per a June 10 tariff order of Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA).

BIAL in Talks with Karnataka Govt to Cut ST on Jet Fuel

Bangalore:  Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) is in talks with the government of Karnataka to bring down sales tax on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) to encourage more airlines to set up base in Bangalore and promote tourism in the state.

This is part of BIAL’s home carrier advantage plan wherein airlines stand to benefit with concessions from the airport operators  provided the airline can achieve a throughput of at least 1 million additional and have  the highest number of night parked aircraft in KIAL among other conditions. But high sales taxes in Karnataka has been the deterrent for many carriers so far.  At present, sales taxes in Karnataka is amongst the highest in the country at 28%.

Airlines protest BIAL discount to AirAsia

New Delhi: After the unsuccessful bid to block the entry of AirAsia India, competitors have now opened a fresh front against the new player by protesting against Bangalore airport’s decision to give discounts to airline, which uses the airport as their base.

AirAsia India has started using Bangalore as its operational hub since it started its initial flights from there and the rivals allege that the Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) decision is aimed at benefiting AirAsia India.

Rivals like IndiGo and SpiceJet, who have come under a common platform of Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), feel that the discounts give an unfair advantage to AirAsia India as no other airport offers such incentives. However, they refused to comment when approached.