While the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) is the most profitable airport in the country earning a profit of ₹528 crore in the financial year 2022-23, other airports in the State incurred losses during the same period.
As per information by the Minister of State for Civil Aviation Gen. (Dr.) V.K. Singh (retd) in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha during the ongoing winter session of Parliament, the KIA recorded a profit in 2022-23 after incurring losses in the previous two years.
In 2022-23, the KIA was the most profitable airport among public-private partnership (PPP) airports.
During the COVID-19 years, the KIA’s earnings were in the red. In 2020-21, when flight operations took a complete hit owing to the travel ban imposed by the government, the KIA recorded a loss of ₹572.8 crore. In 2021-22 the airport recorded a loss of ₹376.52 crore.
The Mangaluru International Airport, the only other airport in the State to operate international flights, also incurred a loss of ₹125.98 crore during 2022-23. During 2020-21 and 2021-22, the airport incurred a loss of ₹28.97 crore and ₹82.83 crore.
The Minister’s reply also states that five airports [Mangaluru, Belagavi, Hubballi, Kalaburagi, and Mysuru] collectively incurred a loss of ₹185.17 crore during 2022-2023.
During 2022-23, Belagavi incurred a loss of ₹23.84 crore, Hubballi (₹23.82 crore), Kalaburagi (₹6.45 crore), and Mysuru (₹5.68 crore). The four airports are operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
Aviation expert Devesh Agarwal said that KIA occupying the top position among the most profitable airports among PPP airports is no surprise.
“The restaurants, lounges, shops and duty-free outlets are a major source of revenue for airports. There are a lot more international passengers who use airports like these. On the other hand, people who tend to fly out of smaller airports do not shop or eat at the airports. Besides, AAI-run airports do not have very good facilities in terms of food or shops,” Mr. Agarwal said.
Mr. Agarwal added that another reason why small airports are in the red is because the costs incurred to hire personnel and maintain facilities are high even though the volume of traffic may be low.
“Even if you are operating just one flight you need security personnel, administrative staff, air traffic controllers, airport managers and so on. So the cost incurred is quite high,” Mr. Agarwal added.
