Chennai airport suffered a loss of ₹189.85 crore during the year 2021-22, the highest among airports operated by Airports Authority of India (AAI). Dehradun airport came second with a loss of ₹98.02 crore and it was followed by Agartala airport that faced a loss of ₹80.67 crore during the same period.
Responding to a question by Neeraj Dangi in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V.K. Singh provided details of profit and losses of 124 airports across the country which were operated by AAI.
In the year 2019-20, Chennai airport earned a profit of ₹22.65 crore. But, in 2020-21, the losses went up to ₹278.63 crore and the figure for 2021-22 was ₹189.85 crore.
Kolkata airport clocked a profit of ₹545.07 crore in the year 2019-20. While this airport had a loss of ₹193.70 crore in 2020-21, it quickly bounced back and for the year 2021-22, it made a profit of ₹145.28 crore.
To a question on the reasons for some airports incurring losses, Mr. Singh said the airports faced losses because the revenue generation was less when compared to the expenses which included the cost of maintenance as well. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a severe impact during the financial years 2020-21 and 2021-22, he said.
“AAI has taken steps to make these airports profitable by enhancement of non-aeronautical revenue by award of contracts through Master Concessionaires, optimum utilization of commercial space for revenue enhancement, city side development, revenue share model for select commercial contracts and utility cost optimization like LED replacement, solar panel installation and so on,” he said in the reply.
