Development fee evokes mixed response at Mumbai airport

Mumbai The proposal to levy an airport development fee (ADF) on all passengers departing from the Mumbai airport has received a mixed reaction from the commuters. The civil aviation ministry recently cleared the proposal made by the private promoters of the Mumbai airport.
A number of passengers (who spoke to Newsline at the airport) said that an ADF of Rs 100 wouldn’t make much of a difference if the money goes into the development of the airport. There were many others who insisted that levying of ADF was just another way of fleecing passengers.
The ADF at Mumbai airport, which will come into effect from April 1, will be levied for four years and will be due for revision every six months. With this, the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) hopes to raise Rs 2000 crore to fill in the shortfall. However, the ADF at Mumbai airport is less as compared to what other privately promoted airports charge across the country, especially the Greenfield ones. For example, the new airport in Hyderabad charges Rs 375 in the domestic circuit and Rs 1,000 at the international airport.
According to a MIAL spokesperson, not only departing passengers from the airport, but also all transit passengers spending more than six hours at the airport will pay ADF. While the airlines will be collecting the money on behalf of the airport, they would be deducting Rs 5 as handling charges.
03/02/09 Shashank Shekhar/Express India

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Categories: Airports Mar 2009