State-run AAI plans to explore international markets

After GMR and GVK groups, Airports Authority of India could become the third Indian player in the overseas airports space, with the state-run company planning to explore international markets.
"AAI has the expertise and capability in airports development. Besides developing and managing its own airports, it has also helped some Gulf airports in the past in the development works. We now want to leverage our expertise to other international markets at a bigger scale," highly placed sources in the company said.
Of the 125 AAI-managed airports, 18 also cater to international traffic, 78 are domestic, seven customs airports and 26 civil enclaves at defence airfields.

"We have recently modernised and developed several airports including those in Kolkata, Chennai, Lucknow, Jaipur and Chandigarh on our own. These are all modern airports and reflect our expertise and engineering capabilities in the area," they said.
Moreover, AAI also has the advantage of a vast pool of manpower, which can be best utilised in executing overseas projects, sources said. AAI has a work force of over 18,000 people.
AAI employees union, which is opposed to further privatisation of airports in the country, has several times in the past alleged that the handing over of four more airports--Chennai, Kolkata, Jaipur and Ahmedabad--to private entities could result in mass lay-offs.

As of now, private players GMR and GVK groups, which run Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bangalore airports under a joint venture agreement with AAI, are present in overseas markets.

While the GMR group is developing Mactan Cebu International Airport in the Philippines in collaboration with a local partner, GVK group is executing two airport projects in Indonesia.
"We have not yet decided which market to begin with and are exploring several geographies globally. But any decision in this regard would be based on the growth potential in that region," sources said.
Sources also said that AAI is open to various business models while undertaking projects abroad which include development of Greenfield airports as well as management contracts.