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From April, air travellers may no longer have to pay extra to compensate airlines for the congestion at airports.

The directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) has written to the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), a recently formed aviation industry association, asking all scheduled airlines to withdraw the congestion surcharge of Rs 150 per ticket. A reply has been sought by Wednesday.

Although the drop in ticket prices is marginal, it is still reason enough for cheer. Earlier this month, the Delhi High Court too had questioned the rationale behind the air congestion surcharge. "When the civil aviation ministry is to be blamed for the congestion in the air and on the ground, why should the passengers pay?" it had then asked the civil aviation ministry's counsel.

Reeling under growing operational losses, most private carriers decided to impose the surcharge on all domestic flights last year.

A spokeswoman of Kingfisher Airlines confirmed that the government has urged it to withdraw the levy. The chief executive officer of a private airline, who did not wish to be identified, told HT that airlines were considering withdrawing the surcharge by April.

Meanwhile, civil aviation minister Praful Patel informed the Rajya Sabha that private airlines had imposed the surcharge on all tickets across their networks, including sectors where there was no traffic congestion. He, however, said: “Domestic airfares are not regulated by the government after the repeal of Air Corporation Act, 1953...  airlines are free to fix their fares using their commercial judgment."

Currently, about 550 landings and takeoffs take place at Delhi airport every day, a figure expected to increase to 730 by 2010. With the rapidly increasing traffic, aircraft are forced to hover above airports for long periods waiting for permission to land.

Email author: gaurav.choudhury@hindustantimes.com