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A new report says Indian airports will spend nearly $7.5 billion by 2027 to prepare for increasing air traffic.
Ratings agency CRISIL Ratings said in a Thursday note that these investments will jump from the around $6.5 billion already spent in the three years ending March 2024.
“The number of passengers at Indian airports is expected to clock a CAGR of 8-9% over fiscals 2025-2027 from 376 million last fiscal. Growth in domestic traffic, which comprises over 80% of overall volume, will ride on rising demand from the business and leisure segments, and the government pushes to increase air travel penetration,” said Manish Gupta, senior director and deputy chief rating officer, CRISIL Ratings.
India’s domestic air passenger traffic is projected to reach 300 million by 2030 from around 150 million. Nearly 200 more airports are expected to be developed in the next 20-25 years. India currently has 157 airports, heliports, and wardrobes.
Aircraft maker Boeing, too, said earlier that India’s passenger traffic will grow by 8% over the next 20 years, leading South Asia, and require nearly 2,700 commercial planes to expand and replenish its fleet.
CRISIL said some of the push in air traffic will also come from regional flights.
As of July 2024, the government had operationalized 84 airports and 579 routes under its regional connectivity scheme. While the impact is small, with air traffic in these airports contributing around 2% of domestic air traffic, these regional routes are important as they provide feeder traffic to the metro airports, underlined.
To accommodate this growth, airport operators invest in aviation-related infrastructure, such as terminal buildings and runways, to create room for increased passenger flow. Additionally, airports are developing non-aeronautical offerings, such as lounges, car parking, food and beverage spaces, and retail outlets, which will help increase revenue, too.
For the first time, the country’s two biggest cities, Delhi and Mumbai, will have two major secondary airports functioning next year. These alone cost over $3 billion to build.
The Noida International Airport (NIA), located on the outskirts of Delhi, completed its first validation flight this week when an IndiGo Airbus A320 landed there on 9th December.
The airport, which is being built at a cost of around $1.2 billion, will have a capacity to handle 12 million passengers annually in the first phase of its operations, which is expected to begin by April.
The Navi Mumbai airport, located on the outskirts of Mumbai, is also expected to begin operations by the same time.
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