Delhi Airport cuts airport development fee

Fee reduced to Rs 100 and Rs 600, will come into effect from Jan 1

Flying out of Delhi has got cheaper with the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority revising the airport development fee for both domestic and international passengers.

From January 1, domestic and international travellers will be charged Rs 100 (instead of current Rs 200) and Rs 600 (instead of Rs 1,300) in development fee. The fee will remain in place till April 2016.

"Considering the lower rate of development fee, the period of levy has been extended by about two years to ensure the amount of development fee collected on an NPV basis remains unchanged. The levy will be periodically reviewed by AERA considering the changes in interest rate and traffic. As the lower rate of development fee is coupled with the extension of time period, it does not impact the total amount of development fee collected. Hence there will be no impact on the means of finance, for the completed modernisation and expansion project of Delhi Airport," Delhi International Airport Limited said in a statement issued today.

 

The reduction in user fee follows the suggestion by civil aviation minister Ajit Singh to reduce airport charges and make air travel affordable.

The government had proposed equity infusion by Airport Authority of India in Delhi and Mumbai airports and matching infusion by lead promoters of the airport projects.

However, with the promoters (GMR in case of Delhi airport) and GVK (in case of Mumbai airport) refusing to infuse funds the government suggested lowering of charges and increasing the collection period.

In case of Mumbai Airport, however, the rate of ADF remains unchanged.