Indian airports record Rs 7,000 cr loss in FY21

The report named ‘India Airports Review FY21’, reported losses worth Rs 7,000 crore and also indicated how total passenger traffic dropped by 63% to 115 million passengers, a figure last obtained in 2008. Comparatively, as per the report by CAPA India, they made profits worth Rs 5,160 crore in FY20. The consolidated operating revenue of airports fell by 64.1% to Rs 8,310 crore. The PPP (public-private partnership) operators accounted for 31% of these losses and AAI (Airports Authority of India) for 69%. Total cash expenditure for the year touched Rs 13,590 crore, the report said. CAPA India is an aviation consultancy firm and has numerous leading airport operators and airlines as its customers. As per the data shared in Parliament last week by the Minister of State Civil Aviation, V K Singh, India’s airports are ready to continue incurring losses as the coronavirus pandemic is yet to recede. A majority of 107 out of 136 airports controlled by AAI have suffered losses, while 91 of these airports have recorded total losses worth Rs 1,368.82 crore. In FY19, 101 of the AAI-operated airports incurred losses of Rs 1,668.69 crore. Domestic traffic dropped by 61.8% to 105 million passengers, but it was international traffic that underwent a much higher blow dropping by 84.8% to just 10.1 million passengers, the lowest level in around 30 years, the CAPA report noted. Currently, scheduled international flights are yet banned from India and travel is only allowed through air bubble arrangements. As of now, India has this contract with Bangladesh, the United States, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Germany, Iraq, Bahrain, Netherlands, France, Oman, Canada, Tanzania, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Maldives, Nepal, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Seychelles, Nigeria, Qatar, the United Kingdom, Russia, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, UAE, and Uzbekistan. The report also informed that the passenger traffic could have been 7-10 million higher than the current figures had it not been for constant regulation modifications made by several state governments. It was especially the case in Maharashtra, where it is estimated Mumbai Airport alone may have dropped 3.5-4.5 million passengers as a consequence. Among the metro airports, Mumbai encountered the steepest drop in total traffic. Mumbai airport was the worst impacted among metros and reported a 75.9% drop in passenger traffic and a loss of Rs 317.41 crore. Chennai airport stands next with a 75.3% drop in passenger traffic. Comparatively, Delhi observed a 66.4% drop and a loss of Rs 317.41 crore, Bengaluru a 66.3% drop, Hyderabad a 63.4% drop and Kolkata a 64.9% drop and a loss of Rs 31.04 crore. Due to constraints related to the pandemic in Maharashtra, Bangalore (Bengaluru) overtook Mumbai for the first time to appear as the second busiest domestic airport in India in FY21, after Delhi, the report said. Image Source Also read: Jyotiraditya Scindia: Covid-hit aviation sector on recovery path