 "AERA scraps UDF at Hyderabad airport")
Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) has scrapped the user development fee (UDF) collected at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport operated by GMR Group with effect from April 1, 2014.
In an order issued on Monday, AERA said, "The authority has also decided that the facilitation component of the passenger service fee would now be merged with UDF. However, in case of HIAL (Hyderabad International Airport Ltd), the authority has determined UDF as zero (0) with effect from 1.4.2014 till 31.3.2016 for both domestic and international embarking passengers.”
UDF is a charge levied by airport operator on passengers to recover the investment made on the development of the airport.
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The order was issued after consultations with all the stakeholders for determination of the Aeronautical Tariffs in respect of the airport for the first control period (1.4.2011- 31.3.2016).
The current level of UDF at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad is Rs 430 per departing domestic passenger and Rs 1,700 for international passenger (ad-hoc determination by the authority in October 2010), plus taxes.
The Hyderabad airport, which was commissioned in March 2008, handled 6.3 million domestic passengers and 2.1 million international passengers last fiscal.
Hyderabad International Airport is a joint venture company promoted by the GMR Group (63%) in partnership with the Government of India (13%), Government of Andhra Pradesh (13%) and Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (11%).