4 major Indian carriers' dues to AAI more than doubled between Jan 2020 and Oct 2021
New Delhi (PTI): Dues of four major domestic airlines -- IndiGo, SpiceJet, Go First and AirAsia India -- to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) more than doubled between January 2020 and October 2021, according to internal AAI documents.
Air India, however, continues to be the domestic carrier with the highest amount of dues to the AAI. As per the documents, Air India's dues to the AAI have increased from Rs 2,183.71 crore as on January 1, 2020, to Rs 2,362.36 crore as on October 31, 2021.
An airline has to pay various charges like air navigation, landing, parking etc to the AAI to use facilities at any of its more than 100 airports. Both Air India and the AAI work under the Civil Aviation Ministry.
The government had on October 8 announced that the Tata Group has won the bid to acquire Air India. The Centre is expected to hand over Air India to the Tatas in the first half of 2022.
India has six major domestic carriers, IndiGo, SpiceJet, GoAir, AirAsia India, Air India and Vistara, which owed the AAI a total of Rs 2,306.59 crore as on January 1, 2020, the AAI documents -- which has been accessed by PTI -- noted.
The dues of these six major domestic carriers taken together increased by 14.29 per cent to Rs 2,636.34 crore by October 31, 2021, the documents added.
Vistara and IndiGo have clarified that all their dues have been cleared, while SpiceJet said its dues are well within credit limits.
India's largest carrier IndiGo owed Rs 80.69 crore as in October 2021, as against Rs 33.21 crore in January 2021, they mentioned.
Asked about this, an IndiGo spokesperson told PTI: "As per our records, all outstanding to the AAI as on October 31, 2021, has been duly paid within the due date."
SpiceJet's dues with the AAI increased from Rs 69.93 crore in January 2020 to Rs 146.75 crore as on October 2021, the AAI documents noted.
However, a SpiceJet spokesperson said the total dues (of the airline) to AAI as on October 31, 2021 stood at Rs 122.69 crore.
SpiceJet has provided a bank guarantee of over Rs 150 crore, and all outstanding are well within the credit limits, the spokesperson added.
SpiceJet is making a daily payment of Rs 1.10 crore as per the payment plan agreed with AAI, the spokesperson said, adding, "The airline industry has been one of worst hit sectors due to the ongoing pandemic which led to accumulation of charges, while our revenues were down to negligible limits."
Unlike in other countries, no relief or any waivers were offered by the government or the airport operator on their charges during the pandemic, the spokesperson said.
"In fact, on the contrary, SpiceJet has huge claims of over Rs 170 crore against AAI with regard to wrongful levy of landing charges for Q400 aircraft, damages for accident and loss of aircraft at Jabalpur airport, and damages for accident at Surat airport," the spokesperson stated.
Go First, which was previously known as GoAir, saw its dues to the AAI increase from Rs 15.62 crore in January 2020 to Rs 39.06 crore in October 2021, the AAI documents showed.
AirAsia India's dues to the AAI increased from Rs 1.47 crore in January 2020 to Rs 3.58 crore in October 2021, the documents noted. Go First and AirAsia India did not respond to PTI's queries regarding the matter of the dues.
Vistara's dues to the AAI increased from 2.65 crore in January 2020 to Rs 3.9 crore in October 2021, according to the documents.
A Vistara spokesperson told PTI that the increase in dues is purely on account of increase in operations, with a growth in fleet size and number of passengers carried.
When asked how Vistara plans to clear the dues to the AAI, the spokesperson added: "There are no dues outstanding with the AAI, Vistara is current with all airport dues."
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
===================
The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
