Flying From 11 Cities May Become Expensive

The central government is making big preparations for the privatisation of airports. A proposal has been prepared to hand over 11 airports in the country, including Varanasi, Raipur, and Jabalpur, to private companies under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.

Airport Privatisation: Preparations are underway to hand over the operations of 11 more airports in the country, including Varanasi, Raipur, and Jabalpur, to the private sector under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. According to informed sources, the Ministry of Civil Aviation recently approved this proposal after a review. The final parameters of this plan will be decided and announced in the upcoming Union Budget. Currently, 14 airports in the country, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Jaipur, are already being operated by the private sector. The new airports will be handed over to the private sector through a bidding process.

Larger Airports to be Bundled with Smaller Ones

Sources indicated that a formula is being devised to make smaller airports economically viable for operations. Under this, proposals will be prepared by bundling a smaller airport with a nearby larger airport. Subsequently, bids will be invited from private companies for the combined entity through a bidding process.

These Airports to be Handed Over

These larger airports – Amritsar, Varanasi, Bhubaneswar, Raipur, Tiruchirappalli.

These smaller airports – Kushinagar, Gaya, Hubli, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad), Jabalpur, and Tirupati.

Passenger Costs to Increase

Handing over airports to the private sector allows them to charge separate fees for facilities, which will increase the burden on passengers. Questions have often been raised about the collection of fees despite a lack of adequate and quality passenger amenities. In 2020-21, the Central Government formally handed over Jaipur, Guwahati, and Thiruvananthapuram airports to a private company based on a per-passenger fee. However, the process of handing over airport operations to private companies in India began in 2006 with the Delhi and Mumbai airports.