A major airport is the one having an annual capacity of 3.5 million passengers, says AERA (amendment) bill 2019

On Tuesday, July 16, 2019, the Rajya Sabha passed the AERA (Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India) Bill with an aim to bid out any new airport on the basis of a pre-approved tariff structure.

While replying during the discussion on the said bill, Hardeep Singh Puri, the Civil Aviation Minister said, "As many as 16 airports will be in the purview of AERA. All other airports continue to be looked after by the Civil Aviation Ministry."

The implications of the AERA bill

At present, the major airports that have an annual capacity to handle about one and a half million passengers remain under the purview of the AERA (Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India). If the bill is passed, the definition of what makes a major airport will change. Henceforth, a major airport will be any aerodrome which already has or even designated to handle an annual passenger capacity of about three and a half million.

The background

On June 24, the cabinet had given its approval for the AERA bill. The AERA is a regulator with which the power to fix the tariffs that the airports charge. During the last time, the AERA bill was approved by the cabinet in December 2017 when the Narendra Modi Government was ruling during its first tenure. Nevertheless, the bill could not be passed during the monsoon session during the last year. With the formation of the new Lok Sabha now, the older AERA bill stands lapsed and hence the cabinet had to approve it once again.

What the different provisions of the AERA bill imply?

The government is looking forward to significantly increase the traffic threshold for the major airports. For instance, the annual traffic threshold of major airports will rise from 15 lakhs to more than 35 lakhs. This will see many airports in the country come out of the ambit of AERA. Hence those that will cease to be identified as major airports will come under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Government of India. So, henceforth, for all these airports, the tariff charges will be decided by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The amendment also vests the Aviation Ministry with the powers to bid out airports projects on the basis of a pre-approved tariff.

The AERA bill seeks to reduce the burden hanging on AERA as there has been a phenomenal increase in the passenger traffic which has increased the workload on AERA. With its limited resources, the AERA is finding it difficult to monitor the quality of services delivered at the major airports and also determine the various tariffs.

The need for the amendment

Notably, when the AERA bill was passed in 2008, the country had 11 airports with annual passenger traffic exceeding 15 lakhs, but the increase in the volume of air travels saw the number of airports almost triple eventually.

Criticisms

Some Rajya Sabha members argued against the bill saying that the government should have taken steps to strengthen the hands of AERA to be able to manage the additional workload instead of removing the airports from its control.