AAI profit surges 30% to Rs 2,537 crore in 2015-16

Airports Authority of India (AAI) saw its profit after tax jump nearly 30% to Rs 2,537.36 crore last financial year, on the back of higher passenger numbers and increased revenues.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday that AAI recorded a total revenue of Rs 10,824.50 crore in 2015-16 compared to Rs 9,284.98 crore in the year-ago period.

In the last financial year, AAI's profit after tax stood at Rs 2,537.36 crore, higher than Rs 1,959.22 crore in 2014-15.

"Increase in passenger numbers, marginal increase of User Development Fee (UDF) charges in AAI airports, Passenger Service Fee (Facilitation Component) and increase in lease revenue from Delhi and Mumbai airports have contributed to the increase in AAI revenues," Sinha said in a written reply.

According to him, there was an 18% rise in passenger traffic, 11% increase in aircraft movements and 16.23% jump in airport lease revenue during 2015-16.

State-owned AAI manages 125 airports, including 11 international aerodromes and 25 civil enclaves. It also provides air traffic management services.

In a separate written reply, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said there has been very good air traffic growth in the last two years due to overall economic growth and resilience in the aviation sector.

"According to traffic data, 223.62 million passengers were handled in the year 2015-16 against the available capacity of 270 million passengers per annum," Raju said.

During the April-June period this year, the Minister said the domestic passenger traffic saw a 20.4% growth compared to the same period a year ago.