MUMBAI AIRPORT WANTS TRANSIT PASSENGERS TO PAY AFTER 6 HOURS
NEW DELHI: In a move that could increase airfares, the Mumbai International Airport Limited (Mial) wants the aviation ministry to amend rules that exempt transit passengers from paying user charges and fees if their connecting flight is within 24 hours of their arrival.
In India, a passenger is treated in transit or transfer if the onward travel journey is within 24 hours from arrival at an airport and is part of the same ticket.
However, the Delhi International Airport Limited (Dial), which operates the Indira Gandhi International airport in the national capital, has opposed the move. At present, transit passengers don’t pay the charges and fees of the airport they are transiting from if their connecting flight is within 24 hours of their arrival.
Mial, which operates the Mumbai airport, has asked the ministry to reduce the exempted time to six hours.
Airlines say a change of rules will directly impact fares. “Airport charges and fees like user develop- ment fee, development fee and passenger service fees are included in the ticket cost. Passengers already pay these at airports they depart from and arrive at. UDF can be as high as ` 1,700 at some airports,” said an airline official.
Neither Mial nor Dial offered comments on their points of view.
The aviation ministry, which is examining the proposal, has asked airlines for their views.
Arguing that exemption be restored to six hours, as it was earlier, Mial has told the ministry there had been a substantial increase of exempted passengers at Mumbai. It said there are 20% exempted passengers against the total departing passengers from Mumbai. “It is imperative that transit passengers be considered as it was earlier i.e. for less than six hours and such transit passengers should pay same charges, say at least 50%, as is the practice worldwide,” it said. Dial said reducing transit time will “create confusion” among airlines. “To spread the cost across all categories of passengers, we would suggest transfer and transit passengers… also bear some of the cost of infrastructure usage,” it said.