Trivandrum airport to charge user-fee on foreign fliers

The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) has permitted an ad-hoc user development fee (UDF) of Rs 755 on every international passenger flying out of the Trivandrum International Airport for a period of 10 years.

The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) has permitted an ad-hoc user development fee (UDF) of Rs 755 on every international passenger flying out of the Trivandrum International Airport for a period of 10 years.

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"The UDF will be applicable with effect from the date of commissioning of new international terminal building," AERA said in an order issued last week.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) that operates the airport had sought the Authority’s approval to begin levying the airport tax or UDF for a period of either 10 or 15 years for all passengers departing from the airport.

The AAI submitted that "the levy of UDF is imperative to make the project viable and to attain a reasonable rate of return." Besides this, the AAI had also demanded that the levy should be coincided with the opening of the new international terminal building. However, the Authority has rejected the AAI demand to levy UDF on domestic passengers. "No UDF would be leviable on domestic passengers," it said.