According to a PTI report, the Government of India (GoI) is mulling charging development fee from passengers departing from nine airports in the country, after imposing development fee in four private airports. Certain sources informed that a proposal to impose development fee on passengers departing from nine airports being modernised by Airport Authority of India (AAI) is likely to get government’s nod soon, which will enable AAI to recover its cash shortfall. The proposal is being reviewed by the Finance Ministry and if the proposal is approved the development fee will be levied from May 1, 2009 for a ‘limited period’. The nine airports where AAI is carrying out major expansion and modernisation activities include Kolkata, Chennai, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Amritsar and Trichy. The fee will be about Rs 200-250 for outbound domestic passengers and Rs 1,000 for departing international travellers, in line with those being imposed on passengers travelling out of major privatised airports at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai. |