Roll back service tax on air travel: Ravi

Calcutta News.Net
Monday 7th March, 2011

Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi Monday called for rolling-back the proposal to hike the service tax on air travel, saying it would further hurt the financially-troubled industry.

'I had a word with finance minister (Pranab Mukherjee) and urged him to reconsider the increase in service tax for the airline industry,' Ravi told reporters here on the sidelines of an event to celebrate International Women's Day.

The Women's Day is observed March 8.

'I also met with the representatives of private airlines on the issue of rising jet fuel prices and other levies, which may impact the passengers. I will be putting forth their concern to the finance minister when I meet him,' Ravi said.

'I also have also appealed to all the state governments to reconsider their sales tax policy for jet fuel.'

In the budget for fiscal 2011-12 presented in parliament last week, Mukherjee had proposed to increase the service tax on domestic air travel by Rs.50 and on overseas travel by Rs.250.

He also proposed a 10 percent hike in the service tax on business and first class travel on domestic flights to bring this on par with that charged on international flights.

Meanwhile, national-carrier Air India announced that it will operate eight flights with an all-women's crew on Women's Day.

According to a ministry statement, the flag-carrier will also have a non-stop flight from New Delhi to Toronto operated by women commanders Rashmi Miranda and Sunita Narula with first officers Varsha Sheoran and Nidhi Suri.

Air India has been operating all-women's crew since from November 1985, when Saudamini Deshmukh and Nivedita Bhasin operated a Fokker aircraft flight from Kolkata to Silchar, followed by a jet flight from Mumbai to Goa in 1989.

Air India had organised an all-women crew's flight on a Boeing 777-200LR plane for a non-stop flight between Mumbai and New York on March 8, 2010, while the flag-carrier also operated a record 22 all-women's crew flights across domestic and international networks.

Currently, the national carrier has around 400 women pilots out of a total 1,200 pilots.

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