Users Need To Pay 50% More Now At ‘This’ Adani-Controlled Airport

The Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) has revealed that the User Development Fee (UDF), levied on passengers as part of their air tickets, will be increased by 50% at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. The rules will come into effect on July 1, 2024, at the Adani-run airport.

50% Hike for Passengers

The UDF will now be ₹770 for embarking domestic travellers and ₹330 for disembarking passengers until March 2025. These fees are also scheduled to be raised further every subsequent year—the fee will be ₹840 and ₹360, respectively, from March 2025 to March 2026 and will be increased to ₹910 and ₹390 in the next year. International travellers, too, will have to pay double the tariff levied on domestic travellers every year.

Increased Fee for Aircrafts

Airlines, too, are victims of the new change, as the landing charges for planes have been increased threefold—₹890 now from ₹360 earlier, with departing flights having to pay ₹840. The fee will increase 4.6 times and 5.5 times in the coming years.

The Pricey Airport

AERA has also raised the airport’s projection for non-aeronautical revenue (used to cross-subsidise passenger cost) to ₹392 crore in comparison to the ₹102 crore proposed by the airport.

These increases are part of a tariff order by AERA that will be implemented from July 1, 2024, to March 31, 2027. The airport, owned by Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL), witnessed this as the first-ever revision of its fees since its privatization in 2019.

Opposition

Opposing this new hike at the Thiruvananthapuram Airport, CPI(M) leader John Brittas and CPI’s Binoy Wiswam have penned letters to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, asking them to review the “astronomical” tariff hike as “these could hamper the promise of affordable air travel for the citizens of Kerala and impact the economic growth of the state,” revealed The Hindu.

The general public, too, has taken to the internet to speak out against the new rule with many claiming it as a result of “privatisation’s and capitalism’s greed”.