Delhi airport operator sues government for allowing commercial flights from Hindon airbase

The operator of the New Delhi international airport, majority owned by GMR Airports, has sued the government for allowing commercial flights from a nearby defence aerodrome in Hindon, flagging financial risks.

Although it made a loss of $21 million because of higher government fees, the national capital’s airport is one of India’s busiest, with about 73.6 million passenger footfall registered last year.

In a lawsuit filed before the Delhi High Court on March 10, the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said the Delhi airport will become “economically and financially unviable”, after the government permitted commercial flights from the airbase.

It accused the government of breaching aviation rules barring a new airport within an aerial distance of 150 km of an existing one, unless there was passenger demand.

Responding to the lawsuit, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court on Monday that the Hindon airport operates over 120 flights weekly. However, the judge asked the government to file written responses to DIAL’s plea.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI), which operates the Hindon airport in Ghaziabad, also has a stake and three board seats in DIAL.

Stating that the AAI had a conflict of interest as it was privy to confidential information on DIAL’s business practices and strategies, the lawsuit prayed the court to overturn the government’s decision, citing media reports for its contention that flights by Air India Express began operating in March from the Hindon Airforce Station, about 30 km from the Delhi airport.

For flights under the government’s regional connectivity scheme, Hindon operated as a temporary extension of the Delhi airport since 2017 as the Delhi airport expanded. Meanwhile, the stock of GMR Airports fell as much as 0.7 per cent after the lawsuit.