Aurangabad, Jan 20:
The process of privatization of the Chikalthana Airport has gained momentum. Now, the process of measurements at the airport for implementing the further tender process has begun. The tender process for the privatization of the Chikalthana and Raipur collectively will start after the map of the airport is prepared, the sources said.
Airport Authority of India (AAI) in September 2021, decided to privatize 13 Airports in the country. These included six big airports Amrutsar, Bhuwaneshwar, Indore, Raipur, Trichi and Varanasi, and 7 small airports including Hubli, Tirupati, Aurangabad, Jabalpur, Kangra, Kushinagar and Gaya.
Airport director, D G Salve said, there are ample facilities at Chikalthana Airport presently and it will be further enhanced after the privatization. The measurement procedure is going on at the Airport, he said.
Earlier, the passengers from various cities used to come to Aurangabad airport. However, after the establishment of the Nanded and Shirdi, the passengers to Aurangabad reduced. Now, the city has to wait for the connectivity to various cities in the country. As the flights are not increasing, the Airport is facing severe losses for the past three years. In 2020-21, Aurangabad Airport incurred Rs 40.55 crores losses. In 2019-19, the losses were Rs 58.71 crores, 2019-20 Rs 58.08 crores. Hence, the decision of privatization has been taken, the experts opined.