AAI back on profitable runway; reports Rs 3,400 profit in 2022-23 fiscal

Airports Authority of India (AAI) is back in the black, raking in a profit of Rs 3,400 crore in the financial year ending in March as rising domestic air traffic boosted its financial performance, according to a source.

AAI announced a profit for the first time after the Corona virus pandemic, which greatly affected air traffic and the aviation sector as a whole.

In the fiscal years – 2021-22 and 2020-20 – AAI reported a loss.

While the loss was Rs 803.72 crore in the financial year ending March 2022, it has stabilized at Rs 3,176.12 crore in the financial year ending March 2021.

These figures are excluding special and unusual items and taxes.

The PTI insider stated that AAI posted a profit of Rs. 3,400 crore for the 2022-23 financial year.

This is a provisional number and the final number will be known after auditing the financial results.

The source also said that the good performance is mainly due to the high growth in domestic air traffic.

In 2022, domestic air passenger traffic increased by 47.05 per cent to Rs. 12.32 crore, compared to Rs. 8.38 crore in the same period last year.

Moreover, passenger numbers increased by 51.70% to reach Rs. 3.75 crore in the first three months of this year as against Rs. 2.47 crore in the same period last year, according to official data.

In 2021-22, AAI made a meager profit of Rs 8.76 crore, including exceptional items and taxes.

Meanwhile, in the fiscal year ending March 2022, the government waived the requirement for compulsory dividend payments. AAI requested the waiver in lieu of the Air India waiver that was made prior to the loss-making carrier being sold by the government to the Tata Group in January 2022.

AAI operates 137 airports, including 24 international airports and 80 domestic airports. It also provides Air Traffic Management Services (ATMS) across the entire Indian airspace and adjacent oceanic regions.