The Airports Authority of India (AAI), for first time, has decided to levy the development fees from passengers at authority operated airports at Kolkata, Chennai, Goa, Ahmedabad and Thiruvananthapuram. It should be recalled that privately operated airports at Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore are already charging such fees from passengers.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said, during the sidelines of inauguration function of new passenger terminal at Indira Ghandhi Airport, "Development fees will be also levied on some airports like those in Kolkata, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Ahmedabad and Goa which are being developed by the AAI."

However, the minister did not disclose the amount to be levied as development fees.

Privately-managed Mumbai airport may also levy such fees in days to come after getting approval from government. The GVK-led consortium operating and modernizing the Mumbai airport has already asked for development fees of Rs 350 from every domestic passenger and Rs 1,000 per international passenger to cover losses worth Rs
2,000 crore due to slowdown in the real estate business and aviation sector.

A DIAL official said, "This system allows greater space for passenger amenities which would otherwise have been used for X-ray machines."