Adani Group to manage Thiruvananthapuram airport – ATTOI welcomes the move

Adani Group, the leading Infrastructure conglomerate in India, has stepped into the airports business by winning the bid for operating Thiruvananthapuram airport along with other four airports in the country. There were 6 airports in the bid run by the the Airports Authority of India (AAI), as part of the privatization programme of the Central Government.

Thiruvananthapuram Airport

As per sources, Adani Group, which had bid for all six airports, has won to upgrade and operate five of them of for a period of 50 years.

Thiruvananthapuram, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow and Mangalore are the airports won by Adani Group under a single stage bidding process.

The bid for the Guwahati airport could not be opened due to a stay granted by the Guwahati High Court against the privatization process, as per sources.

The Adani Group won the bid by contesting with Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (KSIDC), National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), Fairfax India Holdings Corporation, Australia’s AMP Capital, PNC Infratech Ltd and GMR Group.

AAI has sought bids for the operation and management of existing airport assets as well as their up-gradation and development of additional air-side terminals, city-side and land-side infrastructure for 50 years for the 6 airports in the bid.

The winning bid is decided on the basis of the highest monthly per-passenger fee that the concessionaire will offer to the AAI. This is a deviation from the revenue-sharing model that the AAI had adopted in the existing privatized airports such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

The Association of Tourism Trade Organization India (ATTOI) has welcomed the privatization of the Thiruvananthapuram Airport, as it would enhance the quality service to the passengers, like that of the other public-private-partnership models of airports in Kerala.

“We welcome the move by the government as Thiruvanathapuram airport, the first international airport in Kerala, has been losing its importance recently with the arrival of Cochin and Kannur Airports. Around 4 airlines and nearly 30 schedules operating from Thiruvananthapuram were cancelled or shifted to other airports. We hope, with the new management, the airport will regain its charm and it will help reinstate tourism and economic development in the region,” said Vinod CS, President of ATTOI.