Delhi's IGI airport may soon levy airport development fees
13 Jan 2009
New Delhi: Faced with a resource crunch, GMR Group-led Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) may finally get government permission to levy an airport development fee (ADF) on passengers. The levy, reports suggest, may be to the tune of Rs300 per passenger for domestic travel and up to Rs1,000 for international travelers.
Delhi International airport (DIAL) is modernising the capital's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport.
It is being given to understand that the Union law ministry may have cleared a proposal by the GMR Group-led DIAL to charge ADF from outgoing passengers. The civil aviation ministry had sought the law ministry's advice if DIAL's proposal were within the rules.
The ministry is yet to finalise the charges, however.
The Siemens-led Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) has already received clearance from the government to charge a user development fee of Rs260 on domestic tickets from 16 January onwards.
Officials from the civil aviation ministry have indicated that DIAL was likely to exhaust funds for airport development by early February. Development work costs DIAL nearly Rs200 crore a week, they have pointed out.
DIAL has estimated that it may run short of Rs2,800 crore and this is likely to cause delays ahead of the Commonwealth Games in 2010. Given the economic downturn the airport operator is finding it difficult to access funds from banks and financial institutions.
