UDF to be levied on passengers leaving Chennai from next year
Posted on: 27/Feb/2018 3:15:09 PM
The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority has recommended levying of User Development Fee from next year. The Airports Authority of India, or AAI, had applied for extending or revising the UDF till 2021 for Chennai airport. However, it was found that in the last five years, the money collected under UDF was not spent to develop the city airport. The country’s airport tariffs regulator has suggested to Airports Authority of India that it not charge flyers user development fee at Chennai International Airport from next year.
According to a report, the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India, or AERA, recommended that AAI, AII facility’s operator, discontinue the charge - a contentious issue due to the airport’s capacity constraints and limited amenities - because it failed to use money it collected to develop the airport in the past five years.
The fee, for passengers on flights departing the city, is Rs 667 for flyers headed to international destinations and Rs 166 for those on flights to domestic endpoints.
The AERA recommendation for the Chennai airport follows an AAI application to extend or revise the UDF till 2021. An operator must revise UDF every five years based on its investment in an airport. AAI made no additional investment in the airport after putting up steel and glass installations in its domestic and international terminals in 2013 - part of the first phase of a Rs 2,000 crore expansion project by the operator.
Speaking about this, an AAI official said, A meet between stakeholders next month could approve the AERA suggestion. We will gather inputs from airlines, government agencies and passengers at the meeting. Based on these inputs, AERA will decide whether to implement the suggestion. Flyers from Chennai started to pay UDF from 2013. We had five years to recover costs. Because there is pending work, AERA suggested that we could collect UDF till the end of 2018, not after that. Passengers may have to resume paying UDF post 2021, after AAI completes an integrated terminal, rapid-exit taxiways and straightens a taxiway.
