Domestic passenger? Pay user fee of Rs 260

Domestic passenger? Pay user fee of Rs 260
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: Just when you thought air fares were coming down, another price rise has popped up. Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) has been allowed to charge a user development fee (UDF) of Rs 260, inclusive of taxes, on departing domestic passengers. This fee comes into effect on January 16.
The decision comes after a sevenmonth-long analysis of the airport’s financials by the civil aviation ministry.
“All domestic departing passengers will pay the UDF irrespective of the date of booking or purchase of ticket. The UDF receipt can be obtained at the counters located before the departure hall of the terminal building,” said BIAL, the promoters of Bengaluru International Airport.
But passengers should perhaps count themselves lucky. BIAL wanted to charge Rs 675 plus taxes as domestic UDF, and financially for BIAL, this lower amount is a huge setback. The airport operators have accrued losses of Rs 154 crore since the airport opened in May 2008 due to not charging the domestic UDF. Given that the UDF is lower than anticipated and the traffic to and out of Bangalore has declined substantially, the airport could continue to bleed.
But there are indications that the UDF could be raised in future. Albert Brunner, CEO of BIAL, has said: “The approved UDF is an ad-hoc one. The final UDF will be decided by the ministry of civil aviation after further reviews or by the regulatory body, who will be appointed by Government of India soon.”