India: The Ground Support Revolution

THE AIRPORT PRIVATIZATION PROCESS

The Mumbai and Delhi Airports have recently been privatized and GVK and GMR groups respectively, are the new owners on a 30-year modernization lease extendable by another 30 years. Mumbai Airport is thus called Mumbai International Airport Limited and Delhi Airport is called Delhi International Airport Limited.

The Mumbai Airport partnered with Airports Company of South Africa and the Delhi Airport partnered with Fraport and Malaysian Airport Holding and we would assume both the airports will soon look for new ground handling concessionaires as part of their modernization program/revenue forecasts.

CONCLUSION

In view of these developments, one can see that there is indeed a great deal of hectic activity in the ground handling business to meet the aviation boom in India. International companies are vying with each other for a pie in the sky.

India currently has four airlines flying internationally and seven airlines flying domestically.

With the current aircraft population in India at only 200—with orders for 300 more in the pipeline—and a healthy year-on-year passenger growth of 38 percent, it is only a question of time before the ground handling market explodes by leaps and bounds.

For more updates on India do keep watching this space.

Milan Zatakia, Ground Support's South Asian correspondent, has run a well-established GSE Sales and Service business in India for more than two decades. Milan holds his business position as chairman and CEO of Millennium Aero Dynamics Pvt. Ltd. (www.millennium-aero.com) with offices throughout India and is active on Indian Aviation Industry bodies and Chambers of Commerce. He is also the National Vice President of Air Passengers Association of India (APAI). Milan may be contacted at milan@millennium-aero.com.