Domestic aviation seeks relaxed tax policies
Indunil HEWAGE
Sri Lanka's private domestic aviation sector seeks relaxed tax
policies to leverage on the prevailing opportunities in the
international aviation industry.
Deccan Aviation Lanka CEO and Director Denham Schokman said the
private domestic aviation industry is not developed and advanced in
comparison to India, Nepal and Maldives. "It is many years behind most
countries in terms of number of aircraft, range of services, ease of
travel, infrastructure and competition law," he said.
"Tax structure pertaining to the private domestic airlines has
hampered industry growth to a greater extent. When it comes to importing
aircraft and spare parts, a 2 percent NBT tax is charged and domestic
airlines are charging 12 percent VAT from flyers and this should be
removed immediately to better tap the post war opportunities in the
country.
He remarked that this is the time to promote air travel availability
and low priced air fares for the benefit of the industry and customers
as a whole. In addition private domestic airlines face visual light
rules since local airports are not equipped to handle domestic flights
at night. The lack of proper facilities for passengers at domestic
airports is a major concern and the government initiated projects under
way to modernize airports need to kick off soon if the industry is to
stand tall. It is also hit by the brain drain since scarcity of skilled
human resources such as pilots and engineers particularly for
helicopters is a challenge," Schokman said. |