Lone eatery at Tiruchy airport terminal eating into pockets

TIRUCHY: Passengers at Tiruchy airport and their relatives are shocked by the exorbitant prices of tea and snacks sold in the lone stall in front of the terminal.

The hapless travellers and visitors have no option, but to opt for it as there are no other stalls nearby. The nearest is on the main road, which is quite a distance away.

While around 20,000 people including 6,000 passengers arrive at the airport daily, at least 50 per cent of them plan to have breakfast and refresh themselves inside the terminal.

But once they reach here, they are shocked to find the rates of the items sold in the only available stall.

For instance, a cup of tea (approximately 90 ml) is sold at Rs 30, while a vadai is sold at Rs 20, a water bottle (one litre) at Rs 30 and the other eatables beyond the usual price.

“In a haste to reach the airport on time, we skip tea stalls outside and plan to have a cup of tea or a snack inside the terminal but once at the airport, we are shocked to find the high prices. This leads us either to skip refreshment for the day or part with a high price with hesitation,” A Selvaraj, a taxi driver who was waiting in the parking lot said.

He said while one litre of milk costs Rs 44, a 60 to 90 ml tea costs Rs 30. The common man cannot have such a costly tea.

However, the eatery owner said they are spending a high fee to get the contract.

“We have to pay Rs 5 lakh plus GST as monthly rent apart from the deposit of Rs one crore and we need to compensate the expenditure and thus the price is fixed with the airport authority’s approval,” one of the eatery staff said appealing anonymity. He also said that the price for the airport staff is as normal as sold in outside tea stalls.