Indian airports report loss of ₹70 billion in FY2020: aviation consultancy

Of the total losses, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) accounted for 69% losses and the remainder belonged to airports under public- private partnership

Chennai Airport during the lockdown in 2020. File

Indian airport operators are estimated to have posted a consolidated loss, before tax, of ₹70 billion in FY2021 compared with a profit of ₹51.6 billion in FY2020, according to aviation consultancy CAPA.

Of the total losses, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) accounted for 69% losses and the remainder belonged to airports under public- private partnership (PPP).

The combined operating revenue of Indian airports declined by an estimated 64.1% to ₹83.1 billion in FY2021. However, as most airport expenses are fixed, Indian airports saw their operating costs decline by only 13.8%, said CAPA's Indian Airport Outlook report released on Sunday.

The airport sector's EBITDA declined from ₹94.2 billion in FY 2020 to

- ₹15 billion in FY 2021. However, EBITDA remained positive for PPP airports, but was dragged down at an industry level by the AAI.

In addition to the losses incurred by airport operators, airport-based concessionaires such as retail, duty free, food and beverage outlets, ground handlers and MRO (maintenance and repair operations) lost another ₹79-116 billion in FY 2021 taking the total losses for the airport sector to ₹149-186 billion.

CAPA forecasts FY2022 losses for airport operators to be comparable to those of FY2021 at ₹70.1 billion.