One of the key challenges for Indian aviation is the development of airport infrastructure which should not be subject to strict economic regulation in every case, Airports Council International (ACI) director general Angela Gittens told newspersons after interacting with senior aviation sector officials in New Delhi.
ACI has offered its support to India’s attempts to further develop its airport infrastructure and find the right regulatory framework. “Other countries have faced this dilemma and we will provide examples for the government to explore. India should be one of the three largest aviation markets in the world. ACI wants to see India take its rightful place in the aviation world,” Ms. Gittens said when asked about the interactions with Ministry of Civil Aviation officials.
In this regard, ACI discussed with Government officials the need for India to have the right economic regulatory framework in place to encourage the development of this much needed infrastructure. “The world is recognising that airports are businesses in their own right as they vie to gain air services for their communities. As such, the need for regulating every aspect is now outmoded and regulators tend to focus more on service quality rather than strict price,” added Ms. Gittens.
ACI also wanted the process to be transparent and that all stakeholders needed to understand what the features of the new concession model will be. “The current concessions have been successful in providing a steady source of subsidy to the smaller Indian airports and the much needed capital investments in the larger airports. However, the current regulatory model has yielded poor returns for the investors and could stifle development in India’s airports in the long run,” observed Ms. Gittens.
The ACI team included Asia Pacific Regional Director Patti Chau and ACI Economics Director Rafael Echevarne.
