I think it is wrong to say that the Rs. 1500 goes to the government. In fact the airport taxes in India are only around Rs. 221 (Including service tax). The bulk of the money is take as fuel surcharge which goes to the Airline. There is a case of govt. reducing the tax on aviation fuel, but there is a case of reducing excise on petrol as well. Thats a different matter. We should not confuse fuel surcharge as tax. The author should have known that. Flights in India are infact pretty cheap now, cheaper than in the US in most cases. I'd me more worried about improving airport facilities than reducing costs further. With rising incomes airlines are anyways becoming more affordable by the day.