Just five months after the grand new Terminal 3 (T3) at the international airport here was opened for commercial operations, airlines have termed the various fees charged as exorbitant.
“When compared with a rent of Rs500 per sq metre for airline offices at the older terminals, Rs1,900 per sq metre at T3 is not justifiable and does not provide value for money,” said an airline source, who did not want to be identified.
However, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), the operator, says the terminal provided a lot of facilities and the charges were all justified. “We provide a lot more clean offices here and also provide them one point for various services like couriers, and that comes at a cost,” said a spokesperson.
DIAL is a joint venture led by the Bangalore-headquartered GMR Group, with state-owned Airports Authority of India, Germany’s Fraport and Malaysian Airport Holdings.
T3 has a capacity to handle 34 million passengers a year and was inaugurated in July last year. International operations shifted right away and domestic operations by Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, with their low-cost subsidiaries, in mid-November.
The airlines complain of being forced to pay exorbitant rates for food inside the terminal because their caterers are not allowed in. “During fog delays, we bought food for passengers for as high as Rs500 per plate, which our caterers would have served for just Rs150,” said the airline source.
The airlines also have issues with the placement of their offices. “Every visitor has to pay an entry fee of Rs80 per person because our offices are inside the terminal. This may bring money for the operator but is not good for us,” said the official. DIAL says this cannot be done away with and it cannot allow every caterer to enter the terminal. “By keeping the airline offices inside, we have ensured they are safe. If the airline has problems with the entry tax, they can reimburse that to the visitor,” said a spokesperson.
DIAL built the new terminal for Rs12,700 crore, a huge increase from the estimated cost at the start of construction, of Rs8,975 crore. The area of the terminal building was also over-engineered to 550,000 sq metres; under the plan approved by the government, it was to be 470,000 sq metres.
Delhi is the largest airport in the country and caters to around 80,000 passengers a day. Each domestic passenger flying out is charged an airport development fee of Rs200 and international passengers at Rs1,300 each.
