GHIAL proposes arrival fee at Hyderabad airport to fund expansion

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) has submitted a proposal to the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) to introduce a User Development Fee (UDF) for arriving passengers at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) in Hyderabad. If approved, the new charge would apply to flight tickets issued on or after September 1, 2026, splitting airport fees between departing and arriving travelers to help fund a major expansion project.

Under the proposal, which covers the fourth control period from FY 2027 to FY 2031, domestic passengers arriving at the Hyderabad airport would pay a UDF of ₹170, while departing domestic passengers would pay ₹580. For international travelers, the proposed arrival fee is ₹350, with a departure fee of ₹1,150.

Currently, the UDF is largely levied only on departing passengers. The new arrival fee would be collected as part of the airline ticket, meaning passengers flying to Hyderabad from another city would pay airport fees at both ends of their journey.

The proposed fee structure is intended to support a massive ₹13,975 crore infrastructure expansion at the airport over the next three to four years. GHIAL stated that passenger traffic at the airport is projected to reach 51 million passengers per annum (MPPA) by FY31, requiring substantial development. The planned capital expenditure includes developing a new passenger terminal and constructing an additional runway. According to the operator, continuing and expanding the UDF is necessary to generate the internal accruals required for this work.

The proposal also includes a planned reduction in these fees during the fifth year of the control period, running from April 1, 2030, to March 31, 2031. During this final year, the domestic departure UDF would drop to ₹400 and the arrival fee to ₹120. International departure fees would reduce to ₹880, while the arrival fee would decrease to ₹260.

Certain categories of passengers would remain exempt from paying the UDF under the new proposal. These exemptions include children under two years of age, diplomatic passport holders, airline crew on duty, transit passengers traveling onward within 24 hours on the same ticket, personnel on official duty aboard Indian Armed Forces aircraft, passengers on United Nations peacekeeping missions, and those rerouted due to technical or weather disruptions.