Flying out of Mumbai airport will cost more from April 1 with the Union civil aviation ministry deciding to levy an airport development fee (ADF) on the lines of the Bangalore, Hyderabad, and New Delhi airports.

"The development fee will be Rs100 per departing domestic passenger and Rs600 per departing international passenger, inclusive of all applicable taxes, purely on an ad hoc basis, for a period of 48 months with effect from April 1, 2009," a ministry statement said on Friday.

The ADF will be reviewed every six months.

Every flier currently pays Rs232 as service fee for flying. "This goes to the government coffers," said a Mumbai International Airport Limited (Mial) official. The ADF will help Mial to augment a fund gap of Rs2,000 crore, he said.

But Sudhakara Reddy, president of the Air Passengers' Association of India (APAI), said "passengers are wrongly being charged" at the cost of development. The Airports Authority of India and private companies should bear the cost, he said. "Why should a passenger pay for services which are not even in existence?" he asked.

Navita Singh/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication