Need to trim airports' operating costs by 30-50%: Adani Airports CEO

NEW DELHI: Adani Airports chief Arun Bansal on Wednesday said the cost of operating airports has to come down by 30-50 per cent in the coming years as he highlighted the growth potential of the Indian aviation market.

Currently, the company is operating seven airports and is building another one.

Bullish on the Indian market, Bansal said it would like to operate more airports and eventually become a leading airport operator in the world.

Adani Airports is investing in physical and digital segments, and is committed to building the capacity, he added. Indian aviation had been taken for granted for the last 20-30 years and the cost of operating airports should come down by 30-50 per cent in the coming years, he noted.

Adani Airports is bullish on the country’s aviation market and wants to “do more airports”, Bansal said, adding that under the first phase, Navi Mumbai airport will start operations by December 2024.

The passenger handling capacity will be 20 million in the first phase of Navi Mumbai airport. Adani Airports is also operating Mumbai airport.

“We are also working on (setting up) an aviation institute,” he said while speaking at the CAPA aviation summit here.

India is one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world and a large number of planes are on order by various Indian carriers.