Flying out of Hyderabad to become expensive soon

NEW DELHI: Flying out of Hyderabad got expensive for passengers, as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA) allowed the Hyderabad airport to charge User Development Fee (UDF) for international and domestic passengers.

While domestic passengers will have to pay UDF of Rs 430 per flight ticket, international passengers will pay about Rs 1,700 per flight ticket from November 3, 2015. These charges will also attract about 14 per cent service tax.

The DGCA issued an Airline Information circular after the High Court in Hyderabad allowed Hyderabad Airport to charge UDF, which was stopped post an Airport Economic Regulatory Authority ( AERA) order.

The AERA had withdrawn UDF from Hyderabad airport after its decision to calculate charges based on the single Till model and not the Dual Till model that was followed before the aviation regulator came into the picture.

In the single Till model, both aeronautical and nor-aeronautical revenues are considered to decide on charges whereas in the Dual Till aero revenues are taken into consideration to calculate aeronautical charges and non-aeronautical revenues to calculate non-aeronautical charges.

In the Dual Till model, passengers end up paying more and AERA had, hence, adopted the single Till model.

An industry insider said that the UDF would have an impact on passenger traffic as passenger traffic slows the moment there is an increase in fares.