Akasa Air founder and CEO Vinay Dube has voiced support for a government proposal that would allow airport operators to own and run airlines.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation is considering the change, which would ease the current rule capping airport operators’ stakes in airlines at 10 per cent.
Dube said he was supportive of the move, framing it around the need to give consumers more choice in the aviation market.
IndiGo co-founder Rahul Bhatia has pushed back against the plan, calling it a ‘massive conflict of interest’ given that airport operators control the allocation of slots, parking bays and other key infrastructure to airlines.
Bhatia, speaking on an investor call, said there was no global precedent for such an arrangement and argued it would ultimately work against consumers.
Adani Group, which operates Mumbai and seven other airports, and GMR Airports, which manages Delhi and four others, are seen as the likeliest beneficiaries, although Adani has denied plans to launch an airline.
Adani Group, which operates Mumbai and seven other airports, and GMR Airports, which manages Delhi and four others, are seen as the most likely beneficiaries if the ownership cap is relaxed.
The proposal comes at a time when IndiGo and Air India together control nearly 90 per cent of India’s domestic aviation capacity, following a wave of consolidation in recent years.
Media reports of the proposal first emerged from discussions involving GMR and Adani groups seeking regulatory changes, prompting the current round of public debate among aviation industry executives.
The government has not yet indicated a timeline for finalising a decision on whether to relax the ownership cap for airport operators.
Any change to the current ownership cap would require legal clearance from the law ministry and approval from the Union Cabinet before it could take effect.
Under existing rules, operators of major airports such as Delhi and Mumbai are capped at holding no more than a 10 per cent stake in any airline.
Photo by Krish Aarush, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
