Decrease VAT on aviation fuel for making air travel affordable: Civil Aviation secretary to states

HYDERABAD: Telangana government should decrease VAT on aviation fuel to ease the burden on airline players and make air travel affordable, urged secretary of civil aviation N Choubey on Thursday.

N Choubey speaking at the inaugural of 'Wings India 2018', the flagship event of the aviation sector in Hyderabad, said, “There are about 400 million middle-class people in India and if each one of them buys at least two tickets, 800 million tickets will be sold. But for that to happen, air tickets have to be made affordable.

“There are challenges like lack of land for airports expansion, high aviation fuel costs and others. State governments should consider decreasing the tax on aviation fuel, to decrease the burden on airline operators," added Choubey.

The three-day conference is being attended by aircraft manufacturers, airline players, the Civil Aviation Ministry, 23 states and others stakeholders from the aviation ecosystem.

Stressing on the progress of aviation in India, Choubey said that past few years have been more productive than the previous 75 years.

Speaking at the event, Telangana industries and IT minister K T Rama Rao urged Civil Aviation Ministry to set up an Aviation University in Hyderabad. He said, “We have 4 aviation and aerospace SEZs, Global players like Boeing, Pratt and Whitney, TASL, GE and others have facilities here. There is also the availability of skilled manpower. Civil Aviation Ministry should set up an aviation University in Hyderabad to further boost and leverage the ecosystem in Telangana.”

Wings India will go on till Saturday at Old Airport, Begumpet.