Hyd'bad Int'l airport to charge domestic passengers user fees from next month

Hyderabad: So far exempt from paying user development fees at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Hyderabad, domestic air travellers may find themselves paying for use of the airport starting next month, with the union civil aviation ministry expected to decide on the modalities of the charge by the end of this month. Under terms of agreement, the developers, GMR Group's GMR-Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), are competent to levy a user charge on domestic passengers, which they have refrained from doing so on request from the aviation ministry.

"We are expecting the approval on the UDF from ministry of civil aviation by the end of this month, and will implement it as soon as we get the approval," said A Viswanath, chief commercial officer and vice president, corporate planning of RGIA.

Currently, international passengers pay $25 (Rs1,000) as user development fees at the airport. 

According to Viswanath, GHIAL has suggested five models to the ministry for calculation of UDF slab. These are -- passengers travelling within or outside the state, travelling to a metro city or non-metro city, travelling less that 500 km or more than 500 km, taking a low cost carrier or full cost carrier flight and if the flight is of less than one hour or more.

"Whatever model the ministry suggests, we will implement it," he said.

The RGIA, developed by GHIAL, began operations from 16 March and has completed 100 days of its operations on 1 July.