Air passengers using Noida International Airport (NIM) may not see cheaper fares than those flying from Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI), despite lower fuel taxes in Uttar Pradesh. 

Uttar Pradesh charges only 1 per cent VAT on aviation turbine fuel, compared with Delhi's 25 per cent levy. Yet airfares from NIM are turning out to be similar to - and in some cases higher than - those from IGI because of significantly higher airport charges at the new airport.

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IndiGo, the first carrier to announce flights from the new airport, is selling June 24 nonstop tickets from Noida and Delhi at almost identical prices on several routes. Bengaluru flights are listed at Rs 8,910 from both airports, while fares to Hyderabad, Jammu and Amritsar are also nearly unchanged across the two hubs.

IndiGo has now formally opposed the tariff structure before the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority, arguing that passengers using Noida airport may ultimately pay more than those flying out of Delhi, according to The Times of India. 

The airline told the regulator that the pricing model could discourage flyers from shifting to Noida airport and weaken its role as an alternative aviation hub for the National Capital Region.

At the centre of the dispute are user development fees and aircraft landing charges.

For a domestic passenger departing from Noida airport, the proposed user development fee is Rs 653. At Delhi airport, the same fee is Rs 129.

Domestic arrivals at Noida airport would pay Rs 282, compared with Rs 56 in Delhi.

The gap is similarly wide for international travellers. Noida airport plans to charge Rs 1,200 for international departures and Rs 520 for arrivals, while Delhi airport charges Rs 650 and Rs 275 respectively.

Aircraft operators are also staring at steeper costs.

Landing charges for large aircraft such as the Airbus A321 are proposed at Rs 760 per metric tonne for domestic operations at Noida airport, more than double Delhi airport's Rs 347.

For international operations, the proposed rate is Rs 870 per metric tonne against Delhi's Rs 570.

IndiGo estimated that a single domestic round trip operated using an Airbus A321 could cost nearly Rs 1.88 lakh more at Noida airport than at Delhi airport.

The airline warned that if it operated around 15 daily round-trip flights from Noida airport, the additional annual cost could rise to roughly Rs 103 crore.

"With such high costs leading to reduced demand, NIA will become commercially unattractive for operations at any meaningful scale," the airline said in its submission, according to the report.

'No happy with private companies'

Dhirendra Singh, BJP's MLA from Jewar, also expressed dissatisfaction at the higher fares for Lucknow lights from the Noida airport. Speaking to news agency ANI, he said that when flight bookings opened at the airport, tickets to Lucknow were priced above Rs 5,000, while similar flights from Indira Gandhi International Airport were available in the Rs 3,000–4,300 range.

"The VAT on turbine aviation fuel is 1% here, while at Delhi Airport it is 25%. People should have benefited from this difference. I am not happy with the arbitrary actions of private companies. I have requested the Prime Minister, the Aviation Minister, and those associated with Aviation in the Indian government, and the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh, to consider this matter."
 

Published on: May 11, 2026 2:39 PM IST