User fee at six more airports proposed

New Delhi: Air travel from Mangalore, Tiruchi and Visakhapatnam is set to become more expensive.
This follows the Airports Authority of India's (AAI) move to seek a nod from the Government to levy a user development fee (UDF) on all passengers departing from six airports, including the three in the South.
Udaipur, Amritsar and Varanasi are the other airports for which the AAI has sought Government nod to levy the UDF, official sources said.
The exact quantum of fee which would be levied on the passengers will be clear only after the approval from the Government. The airports want to levy a fee ranging between Rs 250 and Rs 900.
Earlier, the state-owned airport operator had also approached the Government seeking to levy a development fee on the users of Chennai and Kolkata airports. No decision has been taken on the issue yet.
Official sources told Business Line that all the proposals are being examined by either the newly appointed Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) or the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Currently, no UDF is levied on any of the airports managed by the AAI.
30/12/09 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

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Categories: Airports Dec 2009