AERA retains ₹620 development fee for Navi Mumbai airport flyers, blocks hike

AIrports economical Regulatory dominance of republic of india (AERA) on wed set the domestic user development fee (UDF) at ₹620 for Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) against the ₹742 sought by airport operation and reduced airport’s proposed revenue recovery for 2025-30.The greenfield airport, inaugurated in October 2025, began commercial operations on December 25 last year.In its tariff order for 2025-2030, the airport’s first control period, the regulator also reduced the airport operator’s aggregate revenue requirement (ARR) to ₹14,087 crore from the ₹28,290 crore proposed earlier and deferred part of the recovery to the next tariff cycle, saying “the move was aimed at moderating airport charges for passengers and airlines.”It retained the domestic departing UDF at ₹620 per passenger for 2026-27, the same level fixed earlier under the ad-hoc tariff order while the international departing UDF was fixed at ₹1,225 against the ₹1,467 proposed by the airport operator.It said that it conducted a “comprehensive analysis, prudence check and due diligence” on the airport operator’s multi-year tariff proposal (MYTP), including capital expenditure, operational expenditure, rate of return and non-aero revenues, before finalising the tariff order.It also said that all stakeholders, including airlines, aviation bodies, passenger groups and airport operators, participated in consultations held on April 2.The regulator’s order said that it would defer 11.32% of the ARR to the next tariff cycle between 2030 and 2035 to soften the tariff burden during the airport’s initial years of operation, when traffic volumes are still expected to ramp up.Domestic passengers account for around 73% of the airport’s projected traffic and would benefit the most from the moderated charges, AERA said.Also Read:27.2 hectares of mangroves to be destroyed for metro line between Navi Mumbai, Mumbai airportsIt also rationalised domestic landing charges at ₹1,400 per metric tonne for 2026-27, with an increase to ₹1,484 per metric tonne in 2027-28 against the ₹1,676 proposed by the airport operator. “The rationalised and moderated UDF charges would significantly benefit domestic passengers, who constitute around 73% of the total passenger traffic. Further, the domestic landing charges have also been rationalized for the control period and determined at ₹1400 per MT for 2026-27, with only a modest increase to ₹1484 per MT for 2027-28, as against ₹1676 per MT proposed by the Airport Operator for 2027-28,” the order said.AERA also said that to encourage airlines to start new routes from the newly opened greenfield airport and to increase flights and expand the airline network during the initial years when passenger traffic would be growing, it allowed Navi Mumbai Airport a variable tariff plan (VTP) for landing charges to cover the initial years of airport operations there.“This would provide the required incentives to airlines to gradually ramp up traffic at this new airport,” it stated.Explaining the higher tariff structure at greenfield airports, a government official said, “Such projects require significant upfront capital investment and initially operate with lower traffic volumes, unlike established brownfield airports that already benefit from economies of scale and stable passenger traffic.”