New Delhi, [India], March 22 : Ad Airports Chief Executive Officer Arun Bansal on Wednesday said the company's ambition is to be the leading airport operator not only in India but in the world.
Addressing the media on the sidelines of the CAPA India Aviation Summit event in Delhi on Wednesday, Bansal said, "Our ambition is we want to be the leading airport operators not only in India but in the world."
Bansal said, "We will selectively be looking for financial sense right now. We are focusing on India. Our ambition is looking at opportunities where we can contribute and makes financial sense."
Ad has seven airports in the country and the company has plans to develop more airports in the country as well as in other parts of the world.
CEO Arun Bansal lauded the growth of the Indian economy and aviation development.
"We have been discussing becoming the second-largest economy in the world. Aviation will play a very significant role by talk about GDP (gross domestic product) growth of any country," he said.
However, Ad Airport Holdings talks about the future of Indian aviation and expectations, Bansal said.
"India to have 1 billion air passengers by 2040, with passenger traffic growing at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 8.5 per cent over the next 20 years," Bansal said, adding, "With a handsome growth in air passenger traffic this year to pre-pandemic levels, operationalising of new airports with stimulus from the UDAN scheme, and over 30 cities getting dual airports over the course of time, air passenger traffic will touch the 1-billion mark by 2040."
When asked whether Ad is looking to acquire more airports in the country through bids, CEO Bansal clarified, "Once the tender documents come out, we will study and we will make a strategy. Our strategy is simple to create a scale... if bid condition is right for us, we will bid."
"We don't make categories about the strength and size of airports because..."Bansal said, adding, "India has a very ambitious plan with UDAN scheme. For the regional aircraft carriers, we will look at the merit of the airport and merit of the potential growth," he added.
All seven Ad airports saw an increase of 92 per cent in domestic and 133 per cent in international travel as compared with the figures from last year. There has also been a rise in the number of domestic flights (58 per cent) and international flights (61 per cent), according to a statement from Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL).
Air traffic jumped by around 100 per cent compared to the previous year, taking the number to pre-pandemic levels with more than 14.25 million passengers using these airports over last year.
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