The Airports Authority of India (AAI) plans to offer discounts and incentives in a bid to attract airlines to their non-metro airports.

The airport operator is offering free night parking for five years to airlines deciding to use the airport and 50 per cent discount on landing and parking charges for airline operating flights during non-peak hours, which will be declared half-yearly by AAI. The discount on landing and parking charge will come down to 25 per cent in the second year. It will discontinue from the third year.

As per a report in Business Standard by Mihir Mishra, to increase traffic in airports in tourist places like Varanasi and Bhubaneswar, AAI will get 25 per cent discount on parking and landing charges for the first two years of operation. A senior AAI official said these would not impact the 1994-instituted organisation’s existing revenues. “In fact, we expect to see increase in our revenues coming from all these airports,” he told Business Standard. 

These discount offers will be applicable at 18 airports, including Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Mangalore, Patna and Varanasi.

AAI, which functions under the ministry of civil aviation, operates 126 airports across the country. Of them, only 14 are making profit. The operator plans to increase it to 25 by the end of the current fiscal.

AAI’s revenue collection also took a hit after four of their major airports were given to private operators. Greenfield airports in Hyderabad and Bangalore led to the closure of the AAI’s airports in the city. Delhi and Mumbai, on the other hand, share a part of the revenue with AAI.

International airlines at all these airports will also get a concession in the parking and landing charges. In case of an airline starting an international flight or increases its international flights connecting the destination, subject to approval from the government, will be given a 75 per cent discount on parking and landing charges for the first year. The discount will decrease to 50 per cent in the second year and 25 per cent in the third year. The airline will also get free parking at the airport and AAI may also provide necessary infrastructure for operation of new airline.

The mini ratna company registered a profit of Rs 712 crore in 2009-10, on revenues of Rs 4,615 crore. Around Rs 1,000 crore of the total revenue came through revenue share from Delhi and Mumbai airports. The airport operator also expects its annual earnings to grow by Rs 100 crore through user development fee collection at various airports.

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