Mangaluru: The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AAI) has put on hold a proposal to hike user charges for passengers at Mangalore International Airport. It has been asked to continue with the current rate till further orders.
The proposal to increase the user fee has been there for many years and has not been approved by the Authority. It has also been asked to continue the rates as usual till March next year or till further orders. Thus, the passengers have heaved sigh of relief.
The proposal to revise the fares of Mangaluru, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram and Srinagar airports was before the Authority. Of these, Mangaluru, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Srinagar airports have been directed to continue with the fares as the review of the proposal for fare hike has not been finalised.
At present, the passengers will be charged Rs. 150 as user fees. Meanwhile, the management of The Mangalore International Airport had hiked the fee to Rs. 100 each for domestic passengers from October 1 after it was merged with the Adani Group. Further, the permission was sought to increase the user fee.
Adani Airports has informed about the proposal to hike the fares. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has invested Rs. 300 Crore in Mangaluru Airport with intention to carry out the expansion work of the value. It is currently taken over by the Adani Group. In all, Rs. 500 Crore has also been allocated. The company will carry out additional development works in the next five years.
The company also intends to provide safety and modern amenities to the passengers. Hence, a proposal to increase the user fee has been placed before the Authority. While so far only domestic and international passengers travelling from Mangaluru are being charged, the new proposal also proposes to charge those coming to Mangaluru from other places.
