NEW DELHI: The aviation ministry Monday told Parliament that there is no govt policy restricting major airport operators from holding substantial equity in or operating scheduled airlines. However, the public private partnership (PPP) JV agreements for certain airports may put such restrictions and one private operator has sought relaxation from the same.Operators of Delhi (GMR group) and Mumbai (Adani) airports are not allowed to hold over 10% stake in scheduled commercial airlines and the latter has written to Airports Authority of India (AAI) seeking relaxation from this clause.Union minister of state for aviation Murlidhar Mohol told Parliament Monday: “There is no such govt policy restricting operators of major airports from holding substantial equity in or operating scheduled airlines. However, the extant contractual agreements relating to some airports under PPP contain certain restrictions on scheduled airlines and their group entities/associates from holding equity share of the concessionaires.“Asked whether airport operators have sought exemption from the same, the minister added: “Request seeking waiver of the relevant agreement provision has been received by AAI. The matter has not yet been examined by the ministry of civil aviation.”The Adani group is learnt to be exploring entering the airline space, something which India’s biggest airline – IndiGo – has opposed, although Akasa has supported the move. Adani Airport manages eight airports, including Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram.
