Delhi High Court Rejects IndiGo’s Appeal Against Shifting Operations Out of Delhi Airport’s Terminal-1

0
Delhi High Court Rejects IndiGo’s Appeal Against Shifting Operations Out of Delhi Airport's Terminal-1
Delhi High Court Rejects IndiGo’s Appeal Against Shifting Operations Out of Delhi Airport's Terminal-1

The Delhi High Court has ruled that IndiGo Airlines cannot claim sole access to Terminal-1 of the IGI Airport in New Delhi simply because it suits the needs of the “corporate goliath”.  

The court also stated that Delhi International Airport Ltd’s (DIAL) decision to shift part of IndiGo operations from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 need not be seen as “unreasonable” just because it may have an adverse impact on the airline.
A bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Rekha Palli pointed out that the part relocation decision by DIAL was temporary, in place only until T-1 completes renovations and recommences operations.

 

With this ruling, the order of a single judge accepting DIAL’s October decision to shift some of the operations of Indigo, GoAir and SpiceJet from T-1 to T-2 at the Indira Gandhi International Airport has been upheld.

Having Highest Passenger Traffic No Justification For Monopoly

The HC bench rejected the suggestion made by IndiGo in its plea challenging the earlier order that Terminal 1 be given out for its exclusive use while rival low-cost carrier SpiceJet move its full operations to Terminal 2 . The court said that it came from IndiGo’s own commercial considerations and was not suggested for “the larger public good”.

The judges further noted that even if IndiGo is on top in regards to passenger traffic, it still does not  entitle it to claim monopoly over Terminal 1  and make SpiceJet shift out of T-1 just because its passenger traffic is one fourth that of IndiGo.
It accepted SpiceJet’s counsel submission that IndiGo’s attempts to claim exclusive use of T-1 would hurt its (SpiceJet) business prospects and would be anti-competitive.
The court also observed that such a decision would have resulted in  “a one horse race”, and give “a clear edge to IndiGo” , adding that it would give rise to accusation of partisan approach by the DIAL, which had tried to balance the interests all parties as much as possible given the space constraints .

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here