The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) has approved provisional user development fee (UDF) tariffs for the Allu Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram, clearing a key regulatory step less than two weeks before the greenfield facility is set to begin commercial operations on July 8.
Under the provisional schedule, domestic departing passengers will pay Rs 835 and domestic arriving passengers Rs 355. International departing passengers face a UDF of Rs 1,255, while international arrivals will be charged Rs 545. The tariffs are expected to take effect once the airport moves into full commercial service.
Bhogapuram, located in Vizianagaram district just north of Visakhapatnam, is being built by GMR Group under a public-private partnership and has been positioned for years as the answer to chronic congestion at Visakhapatnam's existing airport, which has long operated near capacity as the busiest aviation gateway in north coastal Andhra Pradesh. The new airport is named for Alluri Sitarama Raju, the tribal freedom fighter whose resistance to colonial rule in the Eastern Ghats remains a defining chapter of the region's history.
User development fees are a standard, AERA-regulated charge added to ticket prices at Indian airports to help recover the cost of building and operating passenger terminals, and they are typically reviewed and adjusted as a new airport's traffic and revenue mix becomes clearer. For Bhogapuram, the approval of even a provisional tariff structure signals that the regulatory groundwork is largely in place for the airport to open commercial operations on schedule.
The airport's launch is being watched closely across north Andhra Pradesh as a potential catalyst for tourism and investment in a region that has long argued it was underserved by air connectivity relative to its population and economic activity, with local officials hoping additional domestic and international routes follow once the facility is operational.
