Airfares from Delhi are getting cheaper drastically. Here’s why

If you had booked your air ticket from Delhi to somewhere before 7^th July, you may now get some refund. Thanks to a new rule, the steep user development fee (UDF) has been drastically slashed. This fee was something you were paying while buying a ticket to fly from Delhi to both international and domestic destinations.

"We will talk to the aviation ministry, Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) and other stakeholders next week. A decision will be taken after the meetings,” B S Bhullar, chief of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), told The Times of India.


In a passenger-friendly move, the government has abolished UDF for incoming flyers at IGI that, before July 7, was between Rs 462 and Rs 933 for a flyer coming from abroad and between Rs 207 and Rs 415 for a domestic passenger, according to a TOI news report.

Now that the UDF has been brought down, a ticket for a Delhi-Paris/San Francisco-Delhi flight would have an UDF of Rs 54 instead of Rs 2,436 earlier.

Similarly in domestic sector, Delhi-Chennai-Delhi tickets had an UDF rate of Rs 1,068, which would now be only Rs 12.