Domestic Air Travel from Bangalore International Airport to Get Costlier

The Hindu Business Line reports that a user fee will charged on all domestic travel from January 16. The fee is fixed at Rs.260 for now..

Bangalore, Jan. 9 The Ministry of Civil Aviation has announced Rs 260 as the domestic user development fee for Bengaluru International Airport. It will be effective from January 16.

The fee, inclusive of taxes, will apply to all domestic outbound travelers regardless of the date of booking or purchase of ticket, the operator, BIAL, said in a release here on Friday.

The fee will be paid at the airport counters located before the departure hall of the terminal building, it said.

Mr Albert Brunner, Chief Executive Officer, BIAL, said, “The approved UDF is an ad-hoc UDF. The final UDF will be decided by the Ministry of Civil Aviation after further reviews or by the regulatory body, (the proposed authority, which) will be appointed by the Government of India soon.”

BIAL has already been collecting a UDF of Rs 1,070 on international passengers since July 2008. It had sought a domestic user fee of Rs 675.

If it is indeed decided to levy a user fee of Rs.675 as speculated earlier, wonder if this will start competing with basic air fares. As it is, the cost of flying from Bangalore is high and now this.