"There are certain issues with the airport operators in terms of slots, in terms of costs, which have been increasing in some of the private airports, and a group has been set up with airline operators and airport representatives," Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla told reporters after a meeting with airline operators here.
He said the group will go into the nuts and bolts of various issues and come back with suggestions for the overall decision making.
Airlines in the country suffered a loss of Rs 4,000 crore last fiscal and the figure may double this year depending on the oil price movement.
Chawla said operating cost for carriers have also increased as private airports now levy certain charges that were not being imposed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) earlier.
He was, however, quick to come to the defence of private airports, saying they have made huge investments and they need to get returns.
"New airports are coming up with lots of capital cost that they have incurred. As developers and investors, they levy certain cost which were not levied by AAI before as per the flexibility available to them under contractual agreements," Chawla said.
