Airlines have reported savings of only ₹131 crore in fuel costs from efficient "airspace management" instead of the projected savings of ₹1,000 crore annually.
"The airlines have indicated cumulative savings of about ₹131 crore due to implementation of Flexible Use of Airspace (FUA). Further, about 34,000 tonne carbon footprint saving has been reported by various airlines," the Ministry of Civil Aviation told Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture which tabled its report on Wednesday. It had sought to know the actual savings from the initiative.
The report doesn’t specify the time period over which these savings were made.
In May 2020, when Finance Minister Nirmala announced her COVID-19 relief package for the economy, she enumerated several measures that were being taken for the aviation sector which was one of the first to be hit due to the pandemic. These included privatisation of airports, improved tax regime for "maintenance, repair and overhaul organisations" and "efficient airspace" management that will help airlines take shorter air routes and save on fuel.
The Finance Ministry had then said in its presentation that availability of relatively shorter air routes would bring a total benefit of about ₹1,000 crore per year for the aviation sector.
