Adani Airports is unlikely to enter the airline business for now, with chief executive Arun Bansal saying the company does not want to compete with the airlines that use its airports and will instead focus on expanding its airport operations. His comments came a day after the government said it was examining the advantages and disadvantages of allowing airport operators such as the Adani Group to run airlines.
“As airport CEO, I would not like to compete with my own customers. My hands are full,” Bansal said at the SBI Banking and Economics Conclave. The statement indicates that Adani Airports is prioritising its existing airport business rather than using the current policy discussion as a route into airline operations.
Bansal said the company sees sufficient growth potential in airport infrastructure and does not need to enter the airline sector to benefit from India’s expanding aviation market. He said India would be the fastest-growing aviation market in the world over the next decade and could become one of the two largest markets globally.
Adani Airports currently handles about 100 million passengers, according to Bansal. The company operates airports in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur, Guwahati and Navi Mumbai. The portfolio gives the airport operator a presence across major urban markets as well as regional aviation centres.
The company plans to invest about $11 billion in airport infrastructure in India over the next five years, Bansal said. The investment commitment places airport expansion, rather than airline ownership, at the centre of Adani Airports’ stated growth strategy. The source report did not provide a project-wise breakdown of the proposed investment or specify how much would be allocated to each airport.
Bansal also linked the company’s expansion outlook to the expected growth of the wider Indian economy and aviation demand. He said India’s GDP could grow eightfold over the next 20 years, while aviation could grow faster than GDP and expand by about ten times. If the company captures that growth, he said, it could become the world’s largest airport operator by passenger traffic.
Bansal said Adani Airports is already the second-largest airport operator globally by passenger traffic. The claim was made in the context of the company’s current passenger volumes and airport portfolio. The report did not provide comparative passenger figures for other global operators.
The government’s examination of whether airport operators should be permitted to run airlines remains separate from Bansal’s comments. No policy decision or approval was reported in the source material. For now, Adani Airports’ stated position is to concentrate on airport infrastructure and avoid competing directly with the airlines that depend on its facilities.
