Ahmedabad-based business conglomerate Adani Group will take over the operations at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport from October 14, 2021. As per the contract, Adani Group will pay Rs 168 to the airport authority for each passenger who arrives at the airport. Currently, AAI charges Rs 700 and Rs 1000 from domestic and international passengers as user development fee (UDF), causing quite displeasure amongst the passengers.
The Adani group will be taking in development and expansion activities at the airport for which subcontracts are invited. New duty-free shops, food courts and retail shops will also be opened. Kerala state government and Airports Authority Employees Union has filed a case against handing over the airport to Adani Group and is currently under consideration in the Supreme Court.
In 2018, Adani had won the bid to ‘operate, manage and develop’ the Thiruvananthapuram airport along with that of Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Guwahati and Mangaluru for a period of 50 years. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor represents Thiruvananthapuram constituency in the Lok Sabha.
Under AAI, Thiruvananthapuram airport lost to competition owing to red-tape bureaucracy and could not attract top international airlines to operate out of the airport. Hence, Adani Group is expected to infuse new energy and profitability. Currently most direct international flights from Thiruvananthapuram go to the gulf countries. However, Adani Group is considering starting flights even to the UK and US from Thiruvananthapuram airport.