The Civil Aviation Ministry on Wednesday declared Shirdi airport as a major airport under the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority Act, 2008.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (i) of section 2 of the Airports Economic Authority Act, 2008 (NO. 27 OF 2008), the Central government hereby declares the airport of Shirdi as major airport”, says the notification.
Shirdi Airport was inaugurated on 2nd October 2017 by President Ramnath Kovind. The airport became very popular in a short period of time as it was a great option to get to Sai Nagar. In the last three years, more than 9 lakh passengers have availed the services of the airline. Flights to and from Shirdi from Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and many other states.
Recently, the DGCA had declared Srinagar International Airport as a major Airport. With this move, the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) will determine tariff for aeronautical services at Srinagar airport.
As per Section 13 of the Act, the AERA has been mandated to determine the tariff for the aeronautical services rendered at major airports – the amount of the development fees including user development fee and the amount of the passengers service fee levied under Rule 88 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937 made under the Aircraft Act, 1934. Under the AERA, the Centre can designate an airport as a major airport if it has an annual passenger traffic of at least 35 lakh.
