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A number of passengers (who spoke to Newsline at the airport) said that an ADF of Rs 100 wouldn’t make much of a difference if the money goes into the development of the airport. There were many others who insisted that levying of ADF was just another way of fleecing passengers.
“These people know that when someone has to travel by air, he/she would pay whatever amount they charge,” said Gautam Kapadia (43), a marketing executive from Mumbai. “Earlier, we were all scared of increasing fuel surcharge and now this is another headache,” said Karan Jain, a businessman and a frequent flier.
The ADF at Mumbai airport, which will come into effect from April 1, will be levied for four years and will be due for revision every six months. With this, the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) hopes to raise Rs 2000 crore to fill in the shortfall. However, the ADF at Mumbai airport is less as compared to what other privately promoted airports charge across the country, especially the Greenfield ones. For example, the new airport in Hyderabad charges Rs 375 in the domestic circuit and Rs 1,000 at the international airport.
According to a MIAL spokesperson, not only departing passengers from the airport, but also all transit passengers spending more than six hours at the airport will pay ADF. While the airlines will be collecting the money on behalf of the airport, they would be deducting Rs 5 as handling charges.
“It is a standard procedure at all airports,” said a senior airport official. “You’ve seen the new airports at Bangalore and Hyderabad. We want modern airports but from where will the funds come,” asked Milan Zatakia of Air Passengers Association of India (APAI). “When you use the expressway between Mumbai and Pune you pay a toll. It’s exactly the same at the airport now,” he adds.
While aeronautical charges paid by the airlines, that form 10 per cent of their average operational cost, are standard across all airports in India, incidentally the development fees charged to passengers differ.
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rise up mumbai ...our airports is the dirtest in the world ....are name is bigger then slum dog millioner ...are awards come from all over the world....i am happy that everyone should be charged to use mumbai airport....and its surrounding ...inculding 10 percent corruption customs duties...10 percent on the extra taxi duties used outside the airport premise ...10 per on the hafta on the without permit taxi and 10 percent with permit national carries ...10 percent on the vendors who sell ten times more then the market price ....20 percent for all tenders submitted ....and the winner of the tender should pay back 20 percent or do 20 percent more work as a national honour god bless india and its airport authourity in india ....jai ho mumbai india
wow .. thats wonderful .. the people in responsible management positions and governments are asking questions like "We want modern airports but from where will the funds come". I guess if they are asking these questions from the people then they should first resign from their jobs and let others find good solutions. One might ask why are the taxes for the airline tickets 3 or 4 times or sometimes even 10 times more than domestic ticket prices. Arent those supposed to finance all these projects? Its not so much about the money being charged, but just the loss of transperancy for the passenger. The consumer is made to believe in the wrong price of the ticket. Talking about "When you use the expressway between Mumbai and Pune you pay a toll. It’s exactly the same at the airport now,” Then its only the private vehicle owners who pay those toll explicity and not the passengers of busses and other public transport who are individually levied those charges. Its a shame having such officials