Adani Group ready for dominance in aviation
MUMBAI : Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) is set to become India’s largest private airport operator, marking a step forward in its ambitious plan to establish a dominating presence in the civil aviation sector as it has in its current businesses of ports and energy.
The Adani Group flagship will become the largest operator of airports other than state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI), which runs most of the airports, with the Union cabinet approving the transfer of six airports on 50-year leases to AEL. The company will take control of the airports in Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati. These will be leased for operation, management, and development in a public-private partnership model. AEL won the contracts after offering to share the highest revenue-per-passenger with AAI during a bidding process that concluded in February 2019.
AEL’s plans have faced headwinds with the economic disruptions caused by covid-19, especially in the civil aviation sector. Passenger demand for air travel will contract by 49% this year for domestic airlines because of the pandemic, global airlines body International Air Transport Association (IATA) had said in July. The Adani Group is also facing opposition from the Kerala government over the Thiruvananthapuram airport.
