GMR airport to charge $25 user fee for foreign travel

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), a subsidiary of GMR Group, has decided to charge $25 (about Rs 1,000) as user fee from each passenger travelling abroad from the new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad, near Hyderabad, GMR Group Chairman (Airports) Kiran Grandhi said today.

Passengers travelling to domestic destinations from the airport won't have to pay any user fee, he said.

"Our board has decided not to collect user charge from domestic passengers as of now," Grandhi said.

The Rs 2500 crore new airport, that will be operated under a public-private partnership model, is scheduled to start commercial operations on March 16.

The user fee will be collected through airlines that will add this charge to the cost of the ticket, GMR officials said.

The ministry of civil aviation has approved the company's decision.

The user charge at the existing Begumpet airport is Rs 200 for each passenger travelling abroad.

It is nil for domestic travellers.

"GHIAL is sensitive to customers and stakeholders requirements and hence the board has decided not to charge domestic passengers, as also not to increase landing and parking charges and passengers service fees," Grandhi said.

He said that the decision would have a significant impact on the company's revenues.

Seven million passengers use the Hyderabad airport annually, out of which one million use it to travel abroad.

Grandhi said the user charge for domestic passengers would be decided at a later date, in consultation with users and stakeholders.

The company is also studying the possibility of having different charges for short-distance and long-distance domestic travellers.

GHIAL's decision not to charge domestic passengers follows criticism of a proposal to levy a fee of about Rs 600 on each domestic traveller. There have been reports that low-cost carriers (LCCs) like JetLite, SpiceJet and Simplifly Deccan (formerly Air Deccan) had decided to drastically cut the number of their flights to Hyderabad and other new airports like Bangalore as they felt that a stiff charge would make domestic travel expensive and flights unviable.

Grandhi said GHIAL had also decided that parking fees for vehicles at the new airport would not be more than the fee collected at the existing Begumpet airport.

He said GHIAL would make "competitive charges" that would be attractive to passengers and airlines as part of its endeavour to make Hyderabad an aviation hub. The benchmark for the new airport would be Singapore's Changi airport with respect to landscaping, and Munich airport, Germany, for operations.

Already, he said, some airlines have come forward to start operations to and from the new airport. These include British Airways, which wanted to commence operations from October, and Gulf Air, which plans to start operations in June. There were also requests from airlines to make Hyderabad a cargo hub.

At present, 21 airlines (11 international and 10 domestic) operate from Hyderabad to more than 35 destinations. The city airport has registered a 30 per cent combined average growth rate of passengers in the past five years.

Shares of GMR Infrastructure Ltd, which holds a 63 per cent stake in the GHIAL, closed at Rs 159.45 on the Bombay Stock Exchange, down 8.44 per cent from its weekend close.