The many restrictions on air travel imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and limited connectivity have eroded the profitability of most airports in Gujarat. All but two airports in the state made losses in FY 2022.
According to data from the Union ministry of civil aviation, most airports run by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in Gujarat incurred losses. These include Vadodara (Rs 51.22 crore), Surat (Rs 29.36 crore), Rajkot (Rs 17.1 crore) and Bhavnagar (Rs 9.31 crore).
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) airport in Ahmedabad was a profit-making entity till 2019-20, while it was under AAI, months before it was taken over by Adani Airports under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.
Sources in the AAI attributed this loss to poor connectivity and said that these airports lack infrastructure to handle more aircraft, which in turn hampers connectivity.
In the financial year 2021-22, only Jamnagar airport turned a profit – Rs 1.19 crore – while all the other AAI-run airports incurred losses, according to data from the ministry.
A greenfield international airport is also coming up at Hirasar near Rajkot. According to the National Monetization Pipeline (NMP), 25 AAI-run airports have been earmarked for leasing by 2025. Surat and Vadodara are among these.
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