BENGALURU: Flight tickets are likely to get costlier. Reason: The User Development Fee (UDF) at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) has been significantly hiked by more than double from April 16 onwards for a period of four months until August 15.
With the more-than-double hike in the user development fee, the fee for domestic departures will be revised to `306 from `139. For international departures, the fee has been revised from `558 to `1,226. The revised charges will be applicable for tickets bought between April 16, 2019 and August 15, 2019. The fee will revert to the earlier rates after August 15, 2019.
The UDF has been revised based on an Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) amendment issued on April 4, 2019 to its earlier order (No. 18/2018-19), following the interim relief given by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal’s (TDSAT) ruling of March 14, 2019, allowing Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) to collect revised charges for a limited period of four months.
The additional funds collected through the increased UDF will only be used to meet capital expenditure of the expansion projects and will provide BIAL with required cash flows for implementation of these projects.
“This incremental increase in charges would provide BIAL the much-needed relief as we are in the midst of a massive Rs 13,000 crore capacity expansion to cater to the stupendous growth of the aviation sector in India,” said Hari Marar, managing director and chief executive officer, BIAL.
“We are thankful to TDSAT, AERA and the government of Karnataka for their continued support for BIAL’s huge infrastructure outlay. As mandated by AERA, the money generated from the incremental increase in UDF, during these four months, will be deposited in a separate bank account and will be used only to fund the ongoing infrastructure expansion.”