Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) plans to levy penalty on private and chartered planes which do not have approved parking at the city’s airport. Currently, 29 private and non-scheduled planes have their base in Mumbai, but the number of planes parking is double.
Companies owning those jets need prior approval from the airport operator for the parking bay, and the permission to import the planes is granted on the basis of that. In reality, they list some other airport for parking while importing planes, but choose to operate from Mumbai and park their planes there. This has led to congestion at the airport’s general aviation terminal, which does not have any dedicated parking bay.
In January, Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Bharat Bhushan directed MIAL to identify all such planes and take action. Till a few months ago, private planes were being parked close to the main runway of the Mumbai airport. It was stopped only after a warning from DGCA. Even now it is quite common to find planes with their wings over-lapping each other. “No parking-related regulations like maintaining wing tip clearance are being followed,”’ an aviation source said.
In the wake of the DGCA initiative, MIAL has proposed to impose a penalty on planes which do not have approved parking at the airport.
A MIAL spokesperson refused comment on the issue but an airport source confirmed that a proposal had been sent to the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority to allow MIAL to levy penalty.
However, MIAL’s plan to impose a levy on such planes is likely to face opposition.
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“It will be difficult to impose a penalty on non-scheduled or chartered planes. A plane could be practically coming to Mumbai every day or require to stay overnight as it gets business daily from Mumbai,” the source added.
“It’s a legacy issue,” a senior executive said while commenting on private companies’ preference to park their jets in Mumbai. Business leaders find it convenient to have their planes parked in Mumbai.