Noida flight fares match IGI rates despite MLA’s cost concerns
MLA Dhirendra Singh flagged higher ticket prices at Noida Airport, but a review finds fares to five destinations are on par with Delhi IGI, with only a slight difference on the Bengaluru route.
MLA Dhirendra Singh complained that Noida flight tickets were costlier than those from IGI. However, fares to Lucknow, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Jammu and Amritsar are largely identical across both airports.
Noida Airport, IGI Airport, flight fares, IndiGo, Dhirendra Singh, user development fee, AERA, domestic flights, airline pricing
On 9 May 2026, a day after ticket bookings opened for Noida International Airport, BJP MLA Dhirendra Singh raised concerns in letters to the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister, claiming that fares from Noida were markedly higher than those from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport.
The MLA singled out an IndiGo flight from Noida to Lucknow priced at ₹6,556 for travel on 15 June, while the same route from IGI was listed at approximately ₹3,394. He urged the government to lower the proposed user development and passenger charges so that flying from Noida would not be more expensive than from IGI.
However, a cross‑check of airfares for the five cities scheduled for service from Noida – Lucknow, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Jammu and Amritsar – showed that ticket prices were essentially the same as those from IGI for all dates up to 15 July. The only exception was the Noida‑Bengaluru fare for 15 June, which was ₹9,202, compared with ₹8,910 from IGI.
IndiGo’s website did not display flight data for the Noida‑Lucknow route beyond 15 June, though the airline confirmed that daily flights would commence on 1 July.
IndiGo has announced a phased rollout of direct flights from Noida to more than 16 destinations, beginning with four cities – Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Amritsar – on the opening day. Daily services to Jammu will start on 16 June, and from 1 July the airline will add routes to Navi Mumbai, Srinagar, Jodhpur, Dharamsala, Bhopal, Dehradun, Bareilly, Kishangarh, Jaipur, Pantnagar and Chandigarh.
Airfare pricing, according to sources, depends on multiple factors and is not determined solely by user charges. The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) approved an ad‑hoc User Development Fee (UDF) for Noida Airport last year: ₹490 for departing domestic passengers, ₹980 for departing international passengers, and ₹210 and ₹420 respectively for arriving domestic and international passengers.
In contrast, IGI’s UDF for domestic outbound travelers is fixed at ₹129, and ₹56 for inbound travelers. For international passengers, the outbound UDF is ₹650 for economy class and ₹810 for business class, while inbound charges are ₹275 for economy and ₹345 for business.
Shailendra Bhatia, nodal officer of Noida International Airport Ltd, clarified that AERA is the competent authority for fixing and revising UDFs. “Last year, they approved an ad‑hoc UDF; based on that, the airline began ticket bookings. AERA has yet to issue a revised/final UDF list. Until then, the ad‑hoc UDF remains in force,” he said.
