New Delhi, November 15
It’s bad news for frequent fliers from Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in New Delhi with flying costs all set to rise from December.

Passengers flying out of IGIA airport will have to pay an additional Rs 200 when they take a domestic flight and an extra Rs 1,300 while boarding an international flight as Airport Development Fee (ADF).

The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) has fixed these rates to be charged by the Delhi Internal Airport Limited (DIAL) in its latest order, with effect from December till May 2013 to help it bridge a funding gap of Rs 1,230.27 crore.

The AERA decision also approves almost the entire project cost of DIAL barring an amount of about Rs 204 crore, which has been spent on upgradation of apron, runway, additional reinforcement of civil structures and increase in floor area.

Earlier this year in April, the collection of development fee (DF) by DIAL and Mumbai operator MIAL was barred by the Supreme Court till the AERA determined the rate. At that time, while the Mumbai airport collected Rs 100 from a domestic passenger and Rs 600 from an international passenger, the Delhi airport was charging a domestic passenger Rs 200 and an international passenger Rs 1,300. With the AERA now determining the development fee rate for DIAL, monthly collections on the basis of the audited figures of DIAL and AAI will be reviewed and appropriate decisions will then be taken. The latest AERA order will enable the Delhi airport to levy charges in line with the Supreme Court’s direction that the fee has to be decided by a competent authority, in this case the AERA. The AERA’s decision came after it received and reviewed all the stakeholders’ comments on the issue.

Commenting on the development, I Prabhakara Rao, CEO - DIAL, said, “We welcome the restoration of ADF.”