If India wants its aviation sector to grow, it should lower the entire burden of taxes and charges on it, global airlines body IATA has said.
"We have always said to the (Indian) government to please lower the taxes if you want aviation sector to develop and bring much more prosperity and much more additional taxes at the end of the day, than you will lose by a lower rate of tax on aviation," said IATA Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac.
In a wide-ranging interview on the sidelines of the recent World Air Transport Summit, he said, "in India, we have a problem of course. Airspace, fuel and other charges are too high. If they want to develop aviation, they should lower the taxes and the costs".
When told that the government has fixed the GST rate on air tickets at 5 and 12 per cent for domestic and international travel, respectively, de Juniac said he was talking about the entire financial burden on the airline industry.
The financial burden includes the total costs on aviation fuel and an array of charges on airports, navigation, landing and parking, he added.