Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh justified the steep hike in theUser Development Fee byAirports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) for Delhi Airport.
The minister saidAERA is a judicial authority and it had to revise the fee in 2009. It decides it for five years. The airport has to recover five years' tax in two years. That could be one of the reasons for the steep hike, the minister said.
Recently, AERA decided to raise the fee by 346 per cent. This means those taking domestic flights will have to shell out anything between Rs 195 to Rs 462 depending on the distance traveled. For international fliers, the amount will range between Rs 699 to over Rs 1,000.