Adani Enterprises Ltd. (AEL) is all set to become India’s largest private airport operator. The Group has its dominating presence in current businesses of ports and energy and now, it is stepping forward to establish its presence in the civil aviation sector.
The Union Cabinet has approved the transfer to control six airports including Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangaluru and Guwahati for 50 year lease period to Adani Enterprises Ltd. As the group had offered the highest share of revenue per passenger to AAI in the bidding process held in February 2019 and thus, won the contracts for having control over six airports.
The Group has become the largest operator of airports compared to the state-run, Airports Authority of India (AAI) which runs most of the Indian airports. It has also sought time from the government till February 2021 for the official handover of Ahemdabad, Mangaluru and Lucknow airports. It is also facing problems from Kerala government over the control of Thiruvananthapuram airport and thus, likely to take charge of the second batch of airports later.
Due to the economic disruptions caused by COVID-19, International Air Transport Association (IATA) in July, said that the passenger demand for air travel will be contracted by 49% this year.
In a report, Knight Frank India had estimated India’s airport retail market to grow up to $9.3 billion from $1.4 billion by 2030. It is projected that the opportunity for airport operators in India to be $1.6 billion by 2030, and 2.4 times revenue in the airport retail market of key airports such as Mumbai and Delhi and, 2 times in the most successful malls of the cities.