The Hindu Business Line : BIA to levy Rs 260 as domestic user fee from Jan 16

Bangalore, Jan. 9 The Ministry of Civil Aviation has announced Rs 260 as the domestic user development fee for Bengaluru International Airport. It will be effective from January 16.

The fee, inclusive of taxes, will apply to all domestic outbound travellers regardless of the date of booking or purchase of ticket, the operator, BIAL, said in a release here on Friday.

The fee will be paid at the airport counters located before the departure hall of the terminal building, it said.

Mr Albert Brunner, Chief Executive Officer, BIAL, said, “The approved UDF is an ad-hoc UDF. The final UDF will be decided by the Ministry of Civil Aviation after further reviews or by the regulatory body, (the proposed authority, which) will be appointed by the Government of India soon.”

BIAL has already been collecting a UDF of Rs 1,070 on international passengers since July 2008. It had sought a domestic user fee of Rs 675.

BIAL officials have often said the domestic UDF is a critical source of revenue towards airport upkeep, with 80 per cent of its passengers travelling inland.

The greenfield airport at Devanahalli started operations on May 24, 2008. Including the passenger figure from the old HAL airport, Bangalore ended calendar year 2008 with around 9.2 million air passengers – against the anticipated 11 million for the first year – due to the economic downturn and lower travel in short hauls.

Mr Brunner said, “The decision to charge UDF has come more than seven months after we began commercial operations. UDF is a crucial revenue stream for us and although we have not been allowed to charge the amount we requested for, this is a beginning.”

BIAL’s contention is that it has invested Rs 2,273 crore in the design and construction of the airport; that both domestic and international travellers use the same facilities and therefore the difference between the two fees should not be much.

“The contractual agreements specify the collection of domestic UDF from Airport Opening Day whereas until now only international passengers were levied a UDF of Rs 1,070,” the release said.

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