Bengaluru Airport Hikes User Fee By a Whopping 120% From 16 April

The nation’s third busiest airport after New Delhi and Mumbai, plans to use the additional fee to fund its expansion.

(Photo Courtesy: The News Minute)

Flying out from the Bengaluru airport will be costlier by a massive 120 percent from Tuesday, 16 April, following the airport tariff regulator Aera allowing it to revise upwards the user development fee (UDF) for four month.

The nation's third busiest airport after New Delhi and Mumbai, plans to use the additional fee to fund its expansion.

"With the Aera order coming into effect from 16 April, the UDF for domestic departures will be revised to Rs 306 from Rs 139 while for international departures it will be Rs 1,226 from Rs 558 earlier," Bangalore airport said in a statement on Monday, 15 April.

The new charges for domestic and international travel translate into an increase of 120 percent and 119 percent, respectively, it added.

The revised fee is applicable for tickets procured between 16 April and 15 August, it said adding the increased fee will be rolled back from 16 August.

The Rs 13,000-crore second phase expansion entails construction of a new terminal, a second runway, access roads, and a multi-modal transport hub, company said, adding these work is scheduled to be completed by March 2021.

"This incremental increase in charges will provide us with the much-needed relief as we are in the midst of a Rs 13,000-crore capacity expansion," said Hari Marar, the managing director and chief executive.

As mandated by Aera (Airports Economic Regulatory Authority), the money generated from the incremental UDF hike during these four months, will be deposited in a separate bank account and will be used only to fund the ongoing expansion, he added.

The Kempegowda International Airport began operations in May 2008 and is the second airport build on a PPP model after Kochi which was commissioned in the late 1990s. The airport handled 26.91 million passengers in FY18 and is one of the fastest growing in the world.

Canadian NRI Prem Watsa-run Fairfax owns 54 percent in the airport and Siemens Projects Ventures 20 hold percent.

Of the remaining 26 percent, Karnataka government and the Airports Authority holds 13 percent each, respectively.