AITUC flays airport privatisation, demands rollback

The government had last year decided to privatise six airports under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.
For representational purposes (Photo | PTI)
For representational purposes (Photo | PTI)

NEW DELHI: The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) on Friday condemned privatisation of airports and asked the government to withdraw the move.

"AITUC condemns the Central Government's fetish for privatisation and sale of all their assets to their cronies and warns that this step is against the interests of the ordinary commuters, and urges the Central Government to withdraw its latest proposal," it said in a statement.

The government had last year decided to privatise six airports under the public-private partnership (PPP) model.

The Adani Group had won the bids for the six airports -- Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for leasing out Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports through the PPP mode.

AITUC said granting airports to a single business entity would lead to monopoly and the group will squeeze extra revenues from passengers and airlines.

Besides, it said past experience with privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports shows there was income leakage and loss of revenue for the Airports Authority of India.

The trade union said this privatisation of airports should be stopped immediately as it would lead to cost escalation for both travellers and airlines.

The Airports Authority of India owns and manages more than 100 airports across the country.

The union claimed that none of the airports are making losses, adding that the Thiruvananthpuram aerodrome makes a profit of Rs 125 crore every year.

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