Navi Mumbai Airport Permitted to Implement 6% Passenger Fee Hike from April

Navi Mumbai International Airport Gets Green Light for 6% UDF Hike

The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) has approved a 6% increase in domestic user development fees (UDFs) for the Adani-operated Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIAL) from 1 April 2027. This decision comes after the airport's operator proposed a 20% hike from 1 April 2027.

Built at a cost of ₹19,650 crore, the Navi Mumbai airport began operations on 25 December 2025. The approved rates are the same as the current rates, and the airport will be allowed to increase its prices by 6% from 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2031.

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According to the AERA, domestic passengers departing from Navi Mumbai airport will pay ₹738 from 1 April 2027, while those arriving will pay ₹322. This is in contrast to the Noida International Airport, which was allowed a 10% annual increase in UDFs by AERA last week. Domestic passengers departing from the Noida International Airport will pay ₹490, while those arriving will pay ₹210.

Navi Mumbai airport's UDFs are already the second-highest of any major Indian airport, after GMR-run Hyderabad airport, which charges ₹750 for domestic departures. Bengaluru airport's ₹550 UDF for domestic departures is the third-highest amongst major airports, followed by Kolkata (₹547) and Chennai (₹491). UDFs are significantly lower at Delhi's GMR-run Indira Gandhi International Airport (₹129 and ₹56), and Mumbai's Adani-run Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (₹175 and ₹75), which are among India's first airports to be privatized.

Generally, airlines collect UDFs from passengers as part of the ticket fare and pass them on to airport operators. Airport charges for greenfield airports are generally on the higher side in the initial years to support the recovery of investments and for viable airport operations, as compared to a mature brownfield airport, Adani-owned NMIAL said in a statement.

At least one consultant has questioned the fairness of comparing UDFs across airports. "The comparison in user development fees between Navi Mumbai and Noida or Navi Mumbai and Delhi or Mumbai is a bit unfair," said Gurmukh Singh Bawa, secretary general of Air Travellers Association. "Airports like Delhi and Mumbai are older, mature airports. So recovery of substantial costs must have happened."

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