Flying from Mumbai to become costlier as MIAL proposes steep hike in User Development Fee

At present, international passengers flying from Mumbai International Airport are charged Rs 187 while domestic passengers don’t have to pay any such fee

Mumbai: Flying from Mumbai International Airport is set to become costlier from next financial year with the private airport operator MIAL proposing a steep hike of Rs 463 in User Development Fee for international passengers, while domestic passengers will be charged a UDF of Rs 325.

At present, international passengers are charged Rs 187, which has been proposed to be raised to Rs 650, while domestic passengers don’t have to pay any such fee.

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“The proposed tariff card, which has been submitted to the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) for its approval, is in line with what the regulator has approved for MIAL,” a source told PTI.

At the same time, however, in a big relief to airlines, MIAL has also proposed a 35 per cent reduction in the landing and parking charges at its facility for the fourth control period (FY2024-2029), as per the AERA website.

AERA has the mandate to determine all tariffs for major airports in the country. An airport which has or is designated to have a capacity of 3.5 million passengers per annum or above falls in the category of major airports.

Mumbai International Airport, which is the second busiest airport in the country, is operated and managed by a joint venture company Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) which is 74 per cent owned by the Adani group while the remaining 26 per cent stake is held by the Airports Authority of India.

“Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) is an aging infrastructure which needs modernisation both in terms of physical, which we are investing in to make it a world-class infrastructure, where also we are doing a lot of investment in passenger convenience like self-baggage drop, digital yatra, e-gate, facial recognition, upgrading the lounges and also sustainability part,” a source said.

Mumbai International Airport, with two terminals — T1 and T2 —, has a capacity to handle 55 million passengers per annum. In the fiscal year ended March 2024, it handled a total of 52.82 million passengers.

MIAL in June 2024 had submitted the multi-year tariff plan to the AERA proposing a 675 per cent hike in user fee from October 1, 2024, citing a target revenue of Rs 38,724.90 crore and a capex of Rs 17,439.38 crore for carrying out expansion work, which included reconstruction of terminal 1 as well as expansion of T2 and general terminal.

AERA, however, in January approved a capex of Rs 7,832 crore and determined target revenue at Rs 7,602.94-crore and allowed it an 18.8 per cent hike in fee from April 1, 2025.

The regulator has called for a stakeholders’ meeting in New Delhi on March 25 to elicit their views before taking a final call on MIAL’s tariff proposal.