AERA fixes Rs 620 user development fee for Navi Mumbai airport for departing domestic passengers

AERA has set the user development fee for Navi Mumbai International Airport at Rs 620 for domestic departing passengers and Rs 1,225 for international departing passengers.

Airports tariff watchdog AERA has fixed the user development fee for the Navi Mumbai International Airport at Rs 620 for departing domestic passengers and Rs 1,225 for departing international passengers.

The airport, which was inaugurated on October 8, 2025, commenced commercial operations on December 25 last year.

The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) on Wednesday issued the tariff order for the 1st Control Period (2025-30) for the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA).

Each departing domestic passenger will have to pay the User Development Fee (UDF) of Rs 620, while the amount is Rs 1,225 for an international departing passenger.

According to the regulator, the UDF will be Rs 270 for each arriving domestic passenger and Rs 525 for each arriving international passenger.

The UDF will be applicable for the period from June 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027, and subsequently would be higher every year till 2029-30.

''The User Development Fee (UDF) for departing domestic passengers for 2026-27 has been fixed at a reasonable level of Rs 620 per passenger as against the UDF of Rs 742 per passenger proposed by the airport operator.

''Similarly, the UDF for departing international passengers for 2026-27 has been fixed at Rs 1,225 per passenger as against Rs 1,467 proposed by the airport operator,'' AERA said in a release.

The regulator said it has decided to carry forward a sizeable portion (11.32 per cent) of the Average Revenue Requirement (ARR) to the next tariff cycle or the 2nd Control Period from 2030-35 to moderate the airport charges in the interests of passengers and airlines.

The decision has been taken considering the fact that the airport is a greenfield airport with significant upfront capital investment and comparatively lower initial traffic base, resulting in higher airport charges.

''The rationalised and moderated UDF charges would significantly benefit domestic passengers, who constitute around 73 per cent of the total passenger traffic,'' AERA said.

For the period ending March 31, 2027, the landing charges for aircraft will be Rs 1,400 for domestic flights and Rs 1,850 for international flights.

The quantum of the landing charges will increase up to Rs 1,667 and Rs 2,203 for domestic and international flights, respectively, by 2029-30.

According to AERA, the parking charges for vehicles at the airport will be Rs 19 for the first two hours after the free parking period and Rs 23 for the duration beyond four hours.

Meanwhile, the UDF will rise up to Rs 738 for departing domestic passengers and to Rs 1,459 for departing international passengers during the first control period that will end on March 31, 2030.

The increase will be up to Rs 322 for arriving domestic passengers and Rs 625 for arriving international passengers.

NMIA is operated by the Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd (NMIAL), a joint venture between the Adani group and state-owned CIDCO.

After considering the written comments of stakeholders and the counter-comments from the airport operator, AERA said it carried out a comprehensive analysis, prudence check, due diligence and rationalised the ARR proposed by NMIAL, and has ''finally considered an ARR of Rs 14,087 crore only against Rs 28,290 crore sought by the airport operator for the 1st Control Period (2025-30)''.

Besides, the watchdog has allowed a Variable Tariff Plan (VTP) for landing charges to cover the initial years of airport operations there, saying that would provide the requisite incentives to airlines to gradually ramp up traffic at the airport.

AERA also said that airport charges for greenfield airports in the initial years are generally on the higher side to support recovery of investments and for viable airport operations compared to a mature brownfield airport.

''Therefore, the tariff structure of a greenfield airport cannot be directly compared with an established running brownfield airport with significantly higher traffic volumes,'' it said.