September 2, 2025

Get ready for smarter airports in India! The government is cooking up a new rule to link airport charges directly with how well airports serve passengers. According to a fresh consultation paper reviewed by ET, the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) proposes a spicy mix of service quality benchmarks mixed into tariff rules. What does this mean for flyers? If airports serve you well, they earn bonuses. If not, they face cuts in fees. "Performance standards will be linked to airport tariffs through a balanced framework that incorporates both rate cuts for non-compliance and incentives for exceeding benchmarks," says the paper. Right now, AERA sets airport charges for 5 years based on how much the airport spends on building and running. Quality or service isn’t mixed into the price. But here’s the spicy twist: most Indian airports are like single big castles in their cities with little competition. So passengers often have no option but to deal with long waits and slow baggage delivery. Annual complaints are climbing, with travelers grumbling about long check-in times and baggage delays, even as charges rise. Earlier this year, a parliamentary committee slammed the "arbitrary tariff" system and asked AERA to explain how extra money helps passengers. To fix this, AERA now wants to measure airport service every month. There are 32 objective checks like security wait times, baggage arrival speed, availability of trolleys, and seats inside terminals. Plus, subjective measures like cleanliness and how friendly the airport feels. Based on these checks, fees such as user development fee or landing charges will be adjusted monthly—rewarding good airports and punishing poor ones. Big private airports in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru already follow world-class standards as per their contracts. In fact, they often beat top US and European airports in service! So, get ready! India’s airports will soon become more accountable to you, the passenger, making every fly a smoother, happier ride.

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Tags: Airport tariffs, Aera, Service standards, Indian airports, Passenger experience, Airport regulation,