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Fly poorer from today

Hindustan Times | By, New Delhi
Feb 28, 2009 11:56 PM IST

Starting Sunday, flying out of the Capital would leave you lighter by Rs 200. That is, if you are taking a domestic flight out of the Delhi airport.

Starting Sunday, flying out of the Capital would leave you lighter by Rs 200. That is, if you are taking a domestic flight out of the Delhi airport.

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International passengers would shell out Rs 1,300 extra.

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Passengers, however, do not need to worry about carrying spare cash or queuing up at a separate counter to pay this special levy.

The additional fee has been factored in by your airline while booking your ticket.

February 15 cut-off

If you booked your ticket before February 15, you would not be charged the new airport development fee (ADF). But only if your flight is scheduled on or before April 30.

“We are not charging the airport development fee from passengers who booked their tickets before the special levy was announced by the Civil Aviation Ministry. However, this relief would be available only till April 30,” said a senior official of the airport developer, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), who did not wish to be named.

Passengers who bought tickets before February 15 and are travelling after April 30 would have to pay the development fee at airline check-in counters from May 1.

“We don’t think there would be too many passengers who would have booked their tickets so early,” the official said.

Still, there could be some confusion at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) after May 1.

“DIAL would not have special counters for those who haven’t paid the fee with the ticket, and we would have to collect it for them. It would be extra work for our staff to look for tickets that do not incorporate the fee,” said an official of a full-cost carrier on condition of anonymity.

“The airport developer and all the airlines were informed as soon as the ADF was allowed. The airlines started collecting the fee while booking tickets from February 15,” said a Civil Aviation Ministry spokeswoman.

She said airlines would deduct a small amount from the ADF as processing fee.

Mumbai next

With the government also allowing the developer of Mumbai airport to charge a development fee of Rs 100 from domestic and Rs 600 from international passengers, from April 1, Delhi-Mumbai return tickets would cost Rs 100 extra compared to the current price. The Delhi-Mumbai sector is one of the busiest in the world.

Bridge fund

The Civil Aviation Ministry has allowed DIAL to levy ADF on international passengers flying out of Delhi.

DIAL can charge this amount for the next three years. The amount collected may be used only for constructing aeronautical services at the airport.

DIAL had requested the ministry to allow it to charge ADF from passengers to cover a funding gap of Rs 1,827 crore required for the modernisation of IGI Airport. Phase I of the project will cost Rs 8,975 crore.

Private airports in Bangalore and Hyderabad already charge passengers a user development fee.

Kolkata, Chennai, Goa and Ahmedabad airports are also likely to impose similar fees.

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