No hike in airport charges at Mumbai, Delhi till January

The aviation economic regulator said on Monday that components such as airport development fees and user development fees, which are added to every air ticket, will remain unchanged till January next year.

There’s good news for air travellers shuttling frequently between privately-run airports like the ones in Mumbai and Delhi.

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The aviation economic regulator said on Monday that components such as airport development fees (ADF) and user development fees (UDF), which are added to every air ticket, will remain unchanged till January next year. The fees were scheduled for a revision, with effect from October 31.

“Deciding the new tariff structure is a complicated process, which involves feedback from all stakeholders. As a result, the existing tariff has been continued for the next three months,” said a senior civil aviation ministry official.

In addition to ADF and UDF, airport charges include components such as parking fee, landing fee and retail space rents, which have an indirect impact on air fares. In Mumbai, a domestic passenger has to pay UDF of Rs 274 for domestic travel and Rs 548 for a trip aboard. Air travellers flying out of the city are charged ADF of Rs 100 for domestic travel and Rs 600 for international journeys.

Frequent travellers said the order came as a relief because they were expecting ADF and UDF to go up, particularly after Mumbai’s international terminal T2 began operating in February.

“Unchanged airport charges are definitely a relief because air traffic is likely to peak in the next few months,” said Akshay Pandey, an Andheri-based frequent flier. The charges had been criticised because they allowed operators to meet the shortfall in their budgets to modernise metro airports.