Air travel set to get costlier after govt hikes aviation security fee

Air travel will get a tad costlier with the government revising aviation security fee

Starting July 1, a passenger will be charged aviation security fee of Rs 150 or $4.85 for domestic and international flights, respectively. 

At present, a paseenger pays a fee of Rs 130 or $3.25 per trip.  The amount is collected by airlines and is included in the ticket price. The levy is used for meeting security expenses at airports.

The civil aviation ministry issued an order to revise the fee on Friday.

The fee has been hiked by Rs 20 for domestic travel to plug  the funding gap and clear pending security dues at 56 airports. 

According to a PTI report of March, over Rs 600 crore was due to Central Industrial Security Force for guarding these airports. The CISF, which is a para military force under the home ministry, guards 61 airports across the country.

The passenger service fee amount has remained unchanged since 2001 and a decision was taken last year to increase the fee to bridge the funding gap. While the cost of providing security has been increased, the levy collected from passengers is not sufficient to meet the shortfall.