Good news! Flying from Delhi to get cheaper from May 1

New Delhi, Feb 8: Flying out from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the national capital will soon become cheaper, with regulator AERA directing the airport operator to discontinue levying development fee from May 1.

Currently, a domestic passenger boarding a plane from IGIA has to shell out Rs 100 per flight towards Development Fee (DF) while the amount is Rs 600 for international flyers.

Citing the average monthly collection of Rs 30 crore as DF, the regulator said the total sanctioned DF amount of Rs 3,415.35 crore is likely to be recovered by April 30, 2016.

"The DF of Rs 100 per embarking domestic passenger and Rs 600 per embarking international passenger... at IGI Airport shall be continued only till April 30, 2016," Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) said.

Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) is operated by Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL), which is a joint venture between GMR group, Airports Authority of India and Germany's Fraport AG. The regulator had earlier allowed DIAL to levy DF through an order issued in December 2012.

"Keeping in view the average monthly collection of Rs 30 crore, the balance DF is likely to be recovered by April 30, 2016 after taking into account the dues recoverable from airlines," AERA said in a six-page order, dated January 25.

At the end of December 2015, the DF amount to be recovered from passengers stood at around Rs 121.48 crore. This included Rs 30.59 crore to be paid for ATC/CNS (Air Traffic Control/Communication, Navigation and Surveillance) on expenditure basis.

To cover the financial gap in developing the project, the allowable DF was determined at Rs 3,415.35 crore. According to the order, the DF contribution by passengers till April 30 would be accounted by raising bills based on passengers' contribution details in airlines manifesto.

"DIAL/AAI shall take steps to collect the amounts due and the interest on belated payments from the airlines till all the outstanding receivables are realised," it added.

When contacted, a DIAL spokesperson said, "The decision is in line with the original AERA approved timeline. In the said order. AERA has also given six months time, post April 2016, to reconcile and address over/under recovery of Development Fee to settle the approved amount of DF."

Based on AAI's report, the regulator would review and decide on the treatment of over-recovery or under-recovery of DF.

PTI