Cheap food and drinks will be available at airports, Flight passenger cafe facility started at this airport
Passengers had to pay a lot for water, tea and coffee at the airport, but now they can get relief from this. The government has started ‘Udaan Yatri Café’ to deal with the problem of expensive food and beverages at airports. The first such cafe was started at Kolkata Airport on Sunday. Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu inaugurated it. If it is successful, it will also be started in other airports managed by the Airport Authority of India (AAI). During the winter session of Parliament, many MPs had raised the issue of expensive food and beverages at airports during the discussion. These included Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha.
The government had announced to start it from Kolkata Airport. In the Udaan Yatri Cafe, cheap food and beverages will be made available to the passengers. The ministry announced to start the Udaan Yatri Cafe at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport as a pilot project. Essential items like water bottles, tea, coffee and snacks will be available at reasonable prices in the cafe. If this pilot is successful, it will be started in other airports of AAI as well.
What Raghav Chadha said
Expressing satisfaction over this, MP Raghav Chadha called it a positive step. He said that finally the government has heard the voice of the common man. The initiative has started from Kolkata Airport. It is expected that it will be extended to all airports across the country. This will ensure that air passengers do not have to pay Rs 100-250 for basic things like water, tea or coffee. He stressed that affordable facilities at the airport are important for the convenience of the general public.
While discussing the Indian Aviation Bill 2024, Chadha had said that passengers are paying a lot of money for food and beverages at airports. He said that a bottle of water costs Rs 100, and tea costs Rs 200-250. Can’t the government set up cheap canteens at airports? He also criticized the poor management of airports. He said that the condition of airports has become like bus stands. Long queues, congestion and chaos are seen in them.
