Air travel from Mumbai to become costlier from Tuesday

, May 1: The cost of air travel from Mumbai will go up by Rs 600 for those flying to overseas destinations and by Rs 100 for domestic travellers with the levy of development fee from Tuesday, May 1.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has directed all the air-carriers to collect development fee from passengers and subsequently deposit the same with Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), which is managing the airport, a Aeronautical Information circular issued today said.

The circular comes with the Government giving its approval to the levy of development fee of Rs 100 from the domestic passengers and Rs 600 from the overseas travellers.

The levy is purely on ad-hoc basis and valid for 23 months, starting from May 1, the circular stated. The central government had in February 2009 allowed MIAL to collect Rs 100 and Rs 600 from domestic and international passengers.

However, the Supreme Court on April 26 last year held that no DF could be levied or collected from the embarking passengers at major airports unless an Authority determines the rate of such DF.

Later, the MIAL had requested tariff regulator Airport Economic Regulatory Authority to fix the DF saying any delay would affect developmental work being carried at the airport due to shortage of funds.

PTI