The GMR Group-led consortium that runs Delhi airport has asked the Civil Aviation Ministry to set off Air India’s monthly dues to it against what it has to pay the Airports Authority of India (AAI) as revenue share.

Air India, the largest carrier operating from Delhi airport, has a monthly bill of ₹57 crore, of which it pays operator Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) ₹34 crore. (Sources say that there are also months when Air India pays DIAL ₹49 crore.)

But since the airline is unable to make its monthly payments in full, its dues have been increasing steadily. As of October 31, the national carrier owed DIAL around ₹300 crore.

DIAL wants this amount set off against what it owes the Airports Authority. The operator has to pay 45.99 per cent of the income it gets operating Delhi airport to state-owned AAI, which works out to around ₹150 crore a month. This money has to be paid in advance every month.

In a letter to the Civil Aviation Ministry, I Prabhakara Rao, Chief Executive Officer of private operator DIAL, said that since AAI and Air India are both Government-owned entities, it made sense for DIAL to “set off Air India dues against payment of revenue share to AAI every month, covering current dues as well as future shortfall,”

In 2013-14, DIAL paid ₹1,838 crore to AAI as revenue share and has paid the Authority over ₹6,300 crore since its inception.

DIAL won the right to modernise Delhi airport in May 2006 as its revenue share offer of 45.99 per cent was the highest among all the bidders in the fray.

The operator has said that due to a liquidity crunch, meeting its commitments to lenders is becoming difficult and the continuous default by the national carrier is raising its financial costs.

Air India, too, is facing a liquidity crunch but pays DIAL more than the other airlines.

Biggest user

The national carrier flies larger and heavier aircraft to and from Delhi airport, bringing in more passengers and thus generating more funds for the airport operator as parking and landing charges.

The landing and parking rates for the wide-body aircraft that Air India operates are almost three times higher than the rates charged for smaller aircraft. This money is collected by DIAL.

Besides, since Delhi airport charges a fee from both arriving and departing passengers, Air India, operating larger aircraft and getting in more passengers, is DIAL’s biggest customer.

comment COMMENT NOW