Airports most expensive in India

Mumbai: Despite infrastructure constraints, airport charges in Mumbai and Delhi are the highest in Asia. For instance, landing, parking and navigation charges at these airports are around 70% more expensive than at the Changi International Airport in Singapore, one of the best airports in world in terms of quality of service. Most big airports in the world are able to keep charges low and also offer concessions in some instances since a major portion of the airport revenues comes from non-aviation related activities such as shopping arcades and duty free shops. "Non-aeronautical income, including retailing, is only 30% here," according to Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation's Kapil Kaul. Compared to this, revenues from retail services in Changi and Sydney airports are 58% and 71% respectively.
Airports in major cities abroad act as transit points and can spread their costs over a large number of passengers due to economies of scale. However, Indian airports handle relatively low volume, resulting in higher cost per passenger.
31/07/06 Sagar Malviya & Neelasri Barman/Financial Express

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