Tariff hikes: Delhi to become world's most costly airport?

The international air transport association (IATA) is not happy with the tariff hike approved by the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA).

IATA says that this move will lead to Delhi becoming the world's most expensive airport and will hit demand by about 5-8%.

The international body added that the proposed rate card violates international norms and hence the civil aviation ministry needs to intervene. IATA feels that charging user development fees (UDF) based on distance will distort the competition.

Today, AERA allowed the Delhi airport to charge a user development fee, which is a revenue receipt for the airport developer. It is learnt that this fee will be charged for both departures and arrivals of each passenger.

This means, for every departing international passenger, the Delhi airport will charge the user development fee (UDF), which could range between Rs 534 to 1,068 and for arriving it could range between Rs 436 to Rs 881.