Mangaluru: AERA yet to finalize levy of revised UDF at MIA

Mangaluru: Due to approval of an increase in User Development Fee (UDF) at Mangalore International Airport (MIA) is still pending before the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA), the fee will not be increased till approval.

AERA has directed MIA officials to continue with the existing fee till the next order or atleast till March 2023.

Earlier, this August the MIA under Adani Group had sought to increase the UDF from Rs. 150 (current tariff) to Rs. 250 (an increase of Rs. 100) for domestic passengers. For international passengers, it sought to levy Rs. 525.

As per the airport’s tariff planning, for domestic and international passengers it has plans to increase the fee gradually to Rs. 725 and Rs. 1200 by March 31, 2026, respectively.

However, the old fee structure is in place even after the taking over of MIA by Adani Group in October 2020 for lease.

In its Multi-Year Tariff Petition (MYTP), Adani Group has mentioned the reason for the increase in UDF.

The conglomerate has decided to take up development projects at MIA at a cost of Rs. 500 crores for the next five years in addition to Rs. 300 crores which the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has already initiated. Hence, the plans to increase UDF, to provide better facilities to passengers.

As per the MYTP, in future, the incoming passengers too will be levied a UDF of Rs. 250, which was only for domestic and international passengers who were departing from MIA.

Meanwhile, it is learned that along with MIA, airports at Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, and Srinagar had applied for revision of UDF. As the decision regarding MIA, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, and Srinagar are not yet finalized, AERA has directed to continue to levy the existing fees.