Airport Authority Of India Records 52% Rise In Revenues

Not all is gloomy for airport operator Airport Authority of India (AAI) this Christmas. The airport operator has witnessed its revenues from non-aeronautical operations surge by 52% in the past three years.

“The non-aeronautical revenue of AAI due to the effort and utilization of various avenues had increased from Rs 819.10 crores in 2010-11 to Rs 1,241 crores in 2013-14 making a growth of about 52% in 3 years,” said Dr Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Civil Aviation in the Lok Sabha.

Non-aeronautical operations of the AAI include duty-free shops, operating Express Courier terminal as well as Common User Cargo Terminal. “AAI had already introduced various new concepts to increase the non-aeronautical potential like introduction of master concessionaire in the field of food and beverages, Duty free shops and advertisement, Express Courier Terminal and Common User Cargo Terminal,” added Dr Sharma.

The AAI has been aiming to strategically increase its revenues from non-core businesses over the years and has also increased the area allotted for such services by over 10% every year. For instance, the airport operator increased the area allocated for non aeronautical services from 23,119 square meter (sqm) in 2010-11 to 42,996 sqm in 2013-14 at the Chennai airport.

“Similarly, at Kolkata Airport, the area under non-aeronautical services has been increased from 49,668 sqm to 6,00,029 sqm in 2013-14. In case of Trivandrum Airport, the increase in non-aeronautical areas is from 3,217 sqm in the year 2010-11 to 4,029 sqm in the year 2013-14,” stated Dr Sharma.

Image: Indiatimes.com