At a time when air passengers are weighed down by steep fares, flying out of Chennai has become more expensive as the User Development Fee (UDF) has been increased at the airport after four years.
As per the new tariff fixed by the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) which came into force in April, domestic passengers pay ₹205 as UDF and international passengers ₹300 respectively.
User Development Fee (UDF) are levied at airports to augment the revenue of an airport operator.
In 2018, the UDF for domestic and international passengers was ₹166 and ₹667 respectively and it was drastically cut down for both category passengers, UDF was fixed at ₹69.
Officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said this increase in UDF is imperative for them to manage the airport. “For the last few years, we have not been getting much at all. Now that the AAI has put in a lot of money as an investment for the Phase II project, we need to recover gradually, and levying this fee will help in this process. If we need to make further investments in future, it is essential we collect this fee now,” an official said.
UDF subsequently will be increased in the coming years too, AAI said. For 2023-24, for domestic passengers, it will be ₹295 and for international, it will rise to ₹450. In 2024-25, while domestic passengers will spend ₹395, those going abroad will pay ₹615.
It is to be noted that the ongoing Phase II modernisation project at a cost of about ₹2,500 crore has been getting delayed and one portion of the new integrated terminal is likely to be opened in August, and as a result of this work, air passengers face many hassles.
