Domestic air passengers flying out of Bengaluru will pay significantly less in airport user charges from September 1, with the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) fixing the User Development Fee (UDF) at Rs 300 per departing passenger for the five-year period through March 2031.The revised fee is 45% lower than the existing Rs 550 and also below the Rs 450 proposed by airport operator Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL). The reduction is particularly significant for Bengaluru, where domestic travellers account for about 84% of total passenger traffic.For departing international passengers, the UDF has been set at Rs 997, compared with the existing Rs 1,500 and BIAL's proposed Rs 1,215, AERA said in a release on Friday.The regulator's decision comes as part of the fourth control period, which runs from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2031. However, the revised UDF will be levied from September 1, 2026.New tariff framework puts passengers firstAERA has, for the first time, adopted an incremental Average Revenue Requirement (ARR) framework for the airport. Under this approach, passengers will not bear the cost of certain high-value infrastructure projects until those assets are completed, commissioned and available for use.Earlier, UDF and other airport charges could be recovered from passengers before the completion of such projects.AERA said the new approach would ensure that tariff recovery is more closely linked to the actual availability and use of airport infrastructure, protecting passengers from paying prematurely for assets that are not yet operational. This is also aimed at encouraging the airport operator for timely execution and commissioning of big capex projects at the airport and thus reduce the risk of over-recovery for passengers and airlines in case of delays, deferment, non-execution of such planned capex projects, the regulator said.The framework applies to major projects including the Eastern Cross Taxiway (ECT), T2 Phase 2 terminal and T2 Phase 2 apron. AERA said the incremental tariff recovery for these projects will begin only after the respective assets are completed and put into use, with the projects expected to enter the tariff calculation from 2029-30.Landing charges also rationalisedAERA has also revised landing charges for the control period to Rs 442 per metric tonne for domestic flights and Rs 652 per metric tonne for international flights.BIAL had proposed a baseline ARR of Rs 41,398.93 crore, or Rs 35,252.08 crore in present value terms, for the fourth control period. AERA, however, considered a substantially lower baseline ARR of Rs 14,604.31 crore, equivalent to Rs 11,751.55 crore in present value terms. This translates into a baseline Yield per Passenger (YPP) of Rs 390.42 per passenger, which has been suitably apportioned between landing and parking charges, UDF and other airport charges, AERA said.The regulator said the lower UDF would help keep air travel more affordable for domestic passengers while supporting the growth of domestic aviation. This will make air travel affordable to domestic passengers, while supporting the growth of domestic aviation, AERA said.
