New Delhi
Common man can get relief from expensive air tickets. A parliamentary committee has recommended to the government that it should be cost-effective in the development of infrastructure at airports. This will reduce the cost of travel and make it within the reach of the common man. The committee made this recommendation while voting against the concept of unnecessary gold plating at airports and making air travel expensive. ‘Gold plating’ refers to the addition of expensive features that increase the cost of a project, although they do not have a specific relationship to the original service. The committee, in its report presented in the Rajya Sabha, said that India is a developing country and passengers are cost-conscious. In our National Civil Aviation Policy, the government has emphasized on affordability and stability. The Committee observes that most people use airports only to travel, to ‘check-in’ luggage, collect their luggage on arrival and fly to their destination. Other external services cannot be given as much importance as passenger service.
User charges to be affordable and competitive
The committee, headed by Rajya Sabha MP Sujit Kumar, said that most of the stakeholders in this sector are common passengers, whose aspiration and need to travel by air is increasing with time. The parliamentary committee recommended that the user fee should remain affordable and competitive in comparison to other airports in the Asia Pacific region.
Make the terminal comfortable and convenient, not grand
According to the report, it is true that the quality of airport infrastructure is an important component of the overall transportation network as it contributes directly to a country’s international competitiveness and foreign fund inflows. The committee is of the view that all the terminals of the airport need to be made comfortable and comfortable, but there is no need to make them grand by gold plating. The government should avoid making airports very luxurious and wasteful expenditure on them.
Use of technology to reduce operating costs
The committee said that India is a country with limited resources. In such a situation, the government should ensure that the infrastructure development of airports operated by the Airports Authority of India and private companies should be cost effective and economical. Technology should be used to bring down operating costs so that air travel becomes accessible to the common man. The committee says that despite the tremendous increase in air fares, most of the Indian airlines are running in losses. This is the reason why cost-effective operations and stability are very important for airlines for long-term operations.
Biometric boarding system will start soon at the airport
Passengers traveling in domestic flights will not need to carry flight tickets and boarding passes with them. Soon the Aviation Ministry is starting DigiYatra program from Jaipur airport. Under this, biometric boarding systems (face pods) will be installed at Jaipur Airport, so that passengers will be able to scan their facial biometric data (eyeballs, etc.) and get rid of the cumbersome process of manual ‘check-in’. The ‘Face Pod’ will eliminate the need for manual verification of tickets and identity documents at check points, thereby saving passengers time. Under DigiYatra, the process of ‘check-in’, security check and ‘boarding’ will be simplified for the passengers, which will make the process from entering the terminal building to boarding the aircraft faster and smoother. Passengers opting to ‘Check-in’ through DigiYatra will have to register either at the airport or through DigiYatra portal or DigiYatra app.