Private operators don’t have to pay revenue share to AAI for 3 months

New Delhi: The Airports Authority of India has offered private airport operators a moratorium on payment of revenue share to the state-owned firm for three months ending June. “These are difficult times and AAI can only provide them with a three-month exemption from payment of revenue share till June,” said a senior aviation ministry official, who did not want to be identified. “Any further decision on revenues share, if need be, will be taken later.” While the moratorium for Mumbai airport has already come, Delhi airport’s moratorium request will come in after the airport operator’s board approves this proposal and sends it to the government, officials said. A senior executive at Delhi International Airport (DIAL) said the company is not able to fetch a board resolution as convening a board meeting is becoming difficult due to pandemic-related restrictions.75497742Delhi airport, operated by a GMR-led consortium, and Mumbai airport, operated by a GVK-led consortium, share 45.99% and 38.7% of their respective revenues with the state-owned airport operator.The revenue share is fixed based on estimates at the beginning of every quarter and both airport operators had sought an exemption from sharing revenues after grounding of airlines to control the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic during the last week of March impacted revenues. A Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) spokesperson did not comment on the development. This revenue share exemption could be seen as part of a support package being provided to the ailing aviation industry by the government, industry experts said. However, the government may not provide a large bailout package to the industry, said the official quoted earlier. “The possibility of any bailout package for the aviation industry seems bleak and the government may offer them concession in terms of tax benefits or maybe ATF prices,” the person said, adding that discussions are on at various levels in the government. The AAI board had approved the proposal to provide a moratorium to the country’s top two airports on Wednesday, the official said. This moratorium on revenue sharing is set to impact the financial position of AAI as it contributes substantially to its bottom line.AAI has a total outlay plan of more than ₹5,000 crore for 2020-21 and plans to fund about 40% of its outlay through debt. The rest, about ₹500 crore, is to come from the government and internal accruals, which may be hit due to the deferment of revenues.

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