Lower taxes, upgrade airports, says IATA chief

India should give immediate attention to improve airports infrastructure to meet the growing traffic, otherwise it would lead to a serious threat to air-traffic safety, said Giovanni Bisignani, director-general and chief executive of International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Speaking at a seminar on the Indian aviation sector organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Bisignani called for the government to pay immediate attention to the Mumbai airport. "Mumbai is a unique situation. The airport is not in best of shapes. It should be the government's priority," he said.

He also pointed out that China was moving fast in the aviation sector, while India was just making a start.

"If India has to compete with the challenges posed by China, it will have to improve its infrastructure at the airports, most of which do not come up to international standards," he said.

On the model followed by the Indian government to modernise the airport, he said IATA was not bothered about who owned the airport. "All that the industry wants is an airport, which is safe and efficient," he said.

Bisignani also charted out a five-point agenda for the government, including safe air transport, better infrastructure, reasonable taxation and simplifying business norms.

"The government should allow us to conduct aviation as a business. Taxation is an area of concern," he said pointing out the service tax on landing and air navigation charges as a major cause of concern for carriers.

He also said India had come up very well in civil aviation, making the air transport sector in India amongst the fastest in the world.

On the issue of taxation, he said though the government had abolished the fuel uplift levy in 2002, it was yet to refund $36 million collected from various international carriers.

Pointing out that IATA was not setting targets for the government, he said Indian government should keep these factor in mind while preparing the civil aviation policy.

He also asked Indian carriers to look at steps to improve business efficiently. "We have the target to move to 100 per cent e-ticketing by 2007. But India has so far achieved only 5.5 per cent, against the mid-term target of 40 per cent by 2004. This is very sad considering the technological advancement that India has made," he said.

Bisignani also outlined the need for the government to improve airports and airspace capacity. "These will help airlines cut cost by reducing the fuel burn," he pointed out.