The Airports Authority of India (AAI) wants to levy a user development fee (UDF) of Rs 400 and Rs 900 on both arriving and departing domestic and international passengers, respectively, at the new Kolkata and Chennai airports once they become operational in the coming months.
The state-run authority has sought approval for these levies from the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA), which is all set to allow Delhi airport to charge a hefty UDF of anywhere up to Rs 1,400 (around 370 per cent hike) from arriving, departing and even transiting passengers in a couple of months, in addition to an Airport Development Fee (ADF) of Rs 200 and Rs 1,300 for outbound domestic and international flyers, respectively, as per a report in The Times of India. A senior AAI official said, “Chennai airport, built at a cost of Rs 2,100 crore, is ready and may be operational by June. Kolkata airport would be ready at a cost of Rs 2,350 crore by June and will be operational by October. We are seeking UDF of up to Rs 900 for both arriving and departing passengers but not for those transiting like Delhi.” The government had allowed Delhi and Mumbai airport developers to levy ADF over two years ago to bridge the funding gap in modernisation programmes to avoid cash crunch delaying work at these places. A new airport in Delhi was an integral part of the preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the aviation ministry allowed the ADF here after developers warned of not being able to meet the deadline without this cess. The first phase of Delhi airport’s modernisation has been completed at about Rs 12,000 crore, which saw IGI getting two new terminals (T3 and 1D for low-cost airlines) and a Airbus A-380 compliant runway.
Click here to see the original article>The state-run authority has sought approval for these levies from the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA), which is all set to allow Delhi airport to charge a hefty UDF of anywhere up to Rs 1,400 (around 370 per cent hike) from arriving, departing and even transiting passengers in a couple of months, in addition to an Airport Development Fee (ADF) of Rs 200 and Rs 1,300 for outbound domestic and international flyers, respectively, as per a report in The Times of India. A senior AAI official said, “Chennai airport, built at a cost of Rs 2,100 crore, is ready and may be operational by June. Kolkata airport would be ready at a cost of Rs 2,350 crore by June and will be operational by October. We are seeking UDF of up to Rs 900 for both arriving and departing passengers but not for those transiting like Delhi.” The government had allowed Delhi and Mumbai airport developers to levy ADF over two years ago to bridge the funding gap in modernisation programmes to avoid cash crunch delaying work at these places. A new airport in Delhi was an integral part of the preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the aviation ministry allowed the ADF here after developers warned of not being able to meet the deadline without this cess. The first phase of Delhi airport’s modernisation has been completed at about Rs 12,000 crore, which saw IGI getting two new terminals (T3 and 1D for low-cost airlines) and a Airbus A-380 compliant runway.