Airport users at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) are coming to realise the full impact of the revised parking charges for four-wheelers, with the number of flights witnessing an increase following an improvement in the COVID-19 situation. According to a report in the Times of India, the revised parking fee for four-wheelers was implemented in August last year when flights were limited to domestic destinations and countries with which India had air bubble agreements.
The sharp increase in fares — Rs 100 for 30 minutes and Rs 50 for every additional hour — has left airport users unhappy even as Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), which runs KIA, said that the revision was necessary to account for increased operational costs.
As per the report, the revision of parking charges last year had not attracted much attention at the time also because there was no formal announcement about it. Prathiba Rajan, who works as an intellectual property attorney, recently expressed her concern on the parking charges by putting up a board of the revised parking fee on Twitter. “Rs 150/- for car parking charges for 45 mins?? This is outrageous!! (sic),” she wrote.
In response, the BLR Airport handle said, “We take utmost care to make sure that our parking is best in class to make sure that the passenger experience is great and have priced this on par with leading Indian airports and other commercial establishments. Basis your feedback, we will do our best to design a product that suits your needs.”
@BLRAirport Rs. 150/- for car parking charges for 45mins?? This is outrageous!! pic.twitter.com/MWHabNem5e
— Prathiba Rajan (@rajan_prathiba) March 19, 2022
Pratibha had mentioned that the airport cannot be charging so much stating that the parking is best in class when it’s very basic.
Another user Somashekar, who visited the airport recently, told the Times of India that Rs 100 for half an hour amounts to ‘daylight robbery’, as it used to be Rs 100 for two hours and Rs 50 for every additional hour earlier. According to the ToI report, a BIAL spokesperson justified the increase in parking charges stating that it was in line with increasing operational costs, which he termed as a regular practice.