Adani Group introduces charges for private jets

New Delhi: Despite a warning by the airport tariff regulator on unapproved tariff, the Adani Group has introduced ‘general aviation charges’ for private jet operators at six of its airports, two people familiar with the development said.

The operator is levying over ₹ 1,000 for every passenger on private aircraft operators for a week, one of the people said on condition of anonymity.

The Adani Group operates seven airports in the country, including Mumbai, and the new charge has been introduced at six of its airports—Guwahati, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram and Ahmedabad.

The company handled around 7.1 million passengers during September, or nearly 23.7% of air passengers in India.

“We are looking to take up the matter with the stakeholders as this hurts the business of small airlines and charter operators amid an inflationary environment already in place,” a business aircraft operator said on condition of anonymity.

This will not be the first time an airport managed by the Adani group would increase charges for private jets. In 2021, its Lucknow airport had increased charges for private jets by ten times but had to roll it back later.

The conglomerate had earlier hiked ground handling charges at Ahmedabad, leading to complaints from airlines to the tariff regulator, the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA).

“SpiceJet had complained to AERA about the steep increase, almost to the tune of 10x, in the ground handling charges at Ahmedabad airport. Following this complaint, the tariff regulator intervened, and a meeting was called, whereby Adani Group gave in writing that they would withdraw the increase in ground handling charges. The airline had also later told AERA that the matter has been resolved,” a government official aware of the development said.

Simultaneously, AERA in October also cautioned airport operators in India against imposing unapproved tariffs on passengers as it had noticed “few airport operators” of major airports levying charges for aeronautical services without getting necessary regulatory consent.

“It is hereby informed that airport operators are not permitted to levy and collect unapproved charges/tariff rates, and airport users/passengers should not pay for it, and if so, this would be a gross violation of the provisions of the AERA Act 2008 and the guidelines made thereunder,” the AERA notice dated 13 October said.

Queries sent to a spokesperson for the Adani Group and the AERA chairman remained unanswered until press time.

AERA, established in 2008, determines the rates for ‘major airports,’ overseeing charges such as landing, parking, and ground handling services. Major airports are those which handle over 3.5 million passengers annually or as specified by the central government.

According to the AERA website, there are 29 major airports including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Cochin, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kannur, Lucknow, Mangalore, Mopa-Goa, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram, Amritsar, Bhubaneshwar, Calicut, Chennai, Coimbatore, Goa, Indore, Kolkata, Patna, Pune, Raipur, Srinagar, Tiruchirappalli, and Shirdi.

Government officials said they have not received any complaints from the private jet operators yet.

“As per established protocol, the tariff regulator intervenes when it receives a complaint. One can expect some action from AERA as and when the private charter operators approach the regulator for the same,” the first person cited above added.