Flying from Mumbai International Airport to get costly from 16 May

Flying from Mumbai International Airport to get costly from 16 May

Travelling to and from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport( CSMIA) in Mumbai is set to come more precious from May 16, 2025, due to an increase in the stoner Development figure( UDF) approved by the airfields Economic Regulatory Authority of India( AERA). This hike will directly impact the cost of flight tickets for both domestic and transnational passengers.

Understanding the stoner Development figure( UDF)
The stoner Development figure is a charge levied on passengers by field drivers to fund the development, conservation, and upgradation of field structure and installations. This figure is generally included in the price of the air ticket and collected by the airlines on behalf of the field. The AERA is the nonsupervisory body that determines and approves these charges for major airfields in India.

Revised UDF Structure at Mumbai Airport from May 16, 2025
The AERA has approved a revised UDF structure for Mumbai Airport, which will come into effect for tickets reserved on or after May 16, 2025, and will remain applicable until March 31, 2029. The new structure introduces several changes

For Domestic Passengers

Departing Passengers Will now pay a UDF of ₹ 175 per ticket. This is an increase of ₹ 55 compared to the” Development Fee” of ₹ 120 that was preliminarily levied until August 2024.

Arriving Passengers Will have to pay a UDF of ₹ 75. This is a new charge as there was no UDF for arriving domestic passengers preliminarily.

For transnational PassengersThe UDF for transnational passengers has been accounted with a discriminational rate grounded on the class of trip

Frugality Class( Departing) ₹ 615 per passenger.
Frugality Class( Arriving) ₹ 260 per passenger.
Business Class( Departing) ₹ 695 per passenger.
Business Class( Arriving) ₹ 304 per passenger.

preliminarily, a invariant UDF of ₹ 187 was levied on all transnational departing passengers, anyhow of the class of trip. The new structure introduces charges for arriving transnational passengers as well and differentiates grounded on the class.

Impact on Airfares
The revised UDF will inescapably lead to an increase in the overall cost of air trip to and from Mumbai. Let’s look at the implicit increase in ticket prices

Domestic Return Ticket A passenger flying a round trip on a domestic flight to and from Mumbai will now pay an fresh ₹ 175( for departure) ₹ 75( for appearance) = ₹ 250.
International Economy Return Ticket For an frugality class round trip, the increase will be ₹( 615- former ₹ 187) for departure ₹ 260 for appearance = ₹ 428 ₹ 260 = ₹ 688.
International Business Return Ticket Business class passengers will see an indeed advanced increase of ₹( 695- former ₹ 187) for departure ₹ 304 for appearance = ₹ 508 ₹ 304 = ₹ 812.

It’s important to note that these are direct increases due to the UDF hike and will be bedded in the cost of the airline ticket. The final price may vary depending on other factors similar as airline charges, energy surcharges, and levies.

Rationale Behind the Hike
The Mumbai International Airport Limited( MIAL), operated by the Adani Group, had proposed a significant increase in field charges to the AERA to fund ongoing and unborn structure development and to maintain the functional effectiveness and service quality at the field, which handles a large volume of passenger business.

MIAL anticipates handling roughly 229 million passengers over the coming five times, challenging investments in structure upgrades.While MIAL had originally proposed a advanced UDF, the AERA, after a thorough examination, approved a lower Aggregate Revenue demand( ARR), performing in a nominal increase of 21.65 over the being field charges.

The AERA stated that distributing the UDF charges between embarking and disembarking passengers aligns with the” stoner Pays” principle, icing a more indifferent distribution of the tariff burden as both sets of passengers use significant field structure. The discriminational UDF for transnational frugality and business class passengers also reflects the enhanced installations and services used by decoration trippers.

The preface of the ₹ 325 UDF for domestic passengers and the increase to ₹ 650 for transnational trippers
will directly raise the cost of flying from Mumbai.

While the reduction in wharf and parking charges by roughly 35 may neutralize some of these costs, passengers can still anticipate advanced overall fares. The exact impact on ticket prices will depend on colorful factors, including airline pricing strategies and route demand.

Impact on Passengers and Airlines

Passengers Will face a direct increase in the cost of flying to and from Mumbai, especially on transnational routes and for business class trip. Domestic trip will also come hardly more precious. still, passengers who have formerly reserved their tickets before May 16, 2025, will probably be pure from paying the new UDF.

Airlines Will be responsible for collecting the revised UDF from passengers for tickets reserved on or after May 16, 2025, and remitting it to the field driver. The AERA has also accounted wharf and parking charges for airlines down, which might incompletely neutralize the impact of the increased UDF.

Conclusion
The increase in the stoner Development figure at Mumbai International Airport from May 16, 2025, will make air trip to and from the megacity more precious for both domestic and transnational passengers. This modification, approved by the AERA, is aimed at supporting the field’s structure development and icing its fiscal viability to handle the growing passenger business. While this will add to the cost of trip, it’s also anticipated to contribute to bettered installations and services at one of India’s busiest airfields in the long run. Passengers planning to travel through Mumbai after May 16 should factor in these increased charges when reserving their tickets.

https://csmia.adaniairports.com/