Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) has said VIP lounges are a common feature across airports and any suggestion to exclude them from tariff determination disregards contractual obligation and regulatory precedent.

The airport has said this in response to International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) objections for a ₹55 crore VVIP terminal. 

IATA contends that costs associated with a VVIP terminal should not be recovered from ordinary passengers as the facility will not generate any revenue. Requiring airlines and passengers to fund sovereign protocol infrastructure would be fundamentally inconsistent with the principles of user-pay and and cost-relatedness, IATA had said in its submissions to the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority.

In its counter reply, NMIA has said provision of protocol infrastructure is not an extraneous or discretionary addition in the master plan. The concession agreement provides for VIP lounge as a part of airport’s facilities.

“The form, scale, and configuration of such facilities are to be determined based on operational, security, and regulatory considerations in consultation with the concerned authorities. The nomenclature used—whether “VIP lounge” or  “VVIP / protocol facility”—does not alter the functional requirement or the underlying obligation to provide appropriate infrastructure for protocol movement,” the airport has said.

Published on April 29, 2026