ADF to be abolished: Singh
From January 2013, air travel from Delhi and Mumbai may cost less as Ajit Singh, Minister for Civil Aviation, has directed the Airports Authority of India to infuse additional equity at the airports to abolish ADF.
In a sigh of relief for many, the Government is emphasising on making air travel more affordable. With this, they plan to abolish the airport development fee ( ADF) charged in Delhi and Mumbai from January 2013.
Coming up with a workable solution for the airports, Ajit Singh, Minister for Civil Aviation, has directed the Airports Authority of India ( AAI) to infuse more equity in Mumbai International Airport Ltd. ( MIAL) and Delhi International Airport Ltd. (DIAL) with the objective of abolishing ADF and accordingly submit its proposals to Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA).
Welcoming this news, IATA feels this will help resolve the high cost aviation environment in India.
“IATA welcomes this step by the Ministry of Civil Aviation abolishing the Airport Development Fee at Mumbai and Delhi airports from January 1, 2013.
The intervention by the Ministry is a significant step towards reducing the cost for passengers at Delhi and Mumbai. IATA looks forward to the Ministry's early intervention in resolving other issues related to the high cost environment for aviation in India,” says Albert Tjoeng, Assistant Director, Corporate Communications, IATA.
Underlining the objective of the Government to make air travel affordable and to ensure that passengers are not subjected to any extra burden, Singh has asked AAI to take on priority the equity infusion with the purpose of abolition of ADF. If the present funding gaps in case of MIAL and DIAL are met in terms of equity infusion and proportionate raising of loans by the airport promoter including AAI, the ADF will stand abolished. Once the ADF is abolished, the expected financing gap for MIAL and DIAL would be about ` 4,200 crore and ` 1,175 crore,