Ahmedabad, July 14: Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd, has taken over the management control of Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) from the GVK Group following the MIAL Board Meeting earlier today.

This follows approvals received from the Centre, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) of Maharashtra, and the Maharashtra government.

An Adani Airports release said that MIAL is India's second busiest airport by both passenger and cargo traffic.

The release said that with eight airports in its management and development portfolio, AAHL is now India's largest airport infrastructure company, accounting for 25 per cent of airport footfalls. With the addition of MIAL, AAHL will now also control 33 per cent of India's air cargo traffic.

It said AAHL will cater to a 300-million-strong post-pandemic consumer base comprising fliers and non-fliers.

AAHL will begin the construction of Navi Mumbai International Airport next month. Financial closure will be completed in the next 90 days and the New International Airport will be commissioned in 2024.

Gautam Adani, Chairman, Adani Group, said in a tweet that the Group will build an airport ecosystem of the future for business, leisure and entertainment.

"We are delighted to take over management of the world class Mumbai International Airport. We promise to make Mumbai proud. The Adani Group will build an airport ecosystem of the future for business, leisure and entertainment. We will create thousands of new local jobs," he said.

The release said that while the world navigates its way out of an unprecedented crisis, post-pandemic demand for air travel in India and the rest of the world is expected to surge.

The International Air Transport Association expects global passenger traffic to recover to 88 per cent of pre-COVID levels by 2022 and exceed pre-COVID levels in 2023, it said.

The release said that with India becoming to be the world's third-largest aviation market by 2024, the addition of the Mumbai International Airport to the Adani Group's existing portfolio of six airports, and thereafter the operationalization of the greenfield Navi Mumbai International Airport Limited (NMIAL) provides "a transformational aviation platform allowing the Adani Group to interlink its B2B and B2C business as well as create several strategic adjacencies for the Group's other B2B businesses".

"Our larger objective is to reinvent airports as ecosystems that drive local economic development and act as the nuclei around which we can catalyse aviation-linked businesses. These include metropolitan developments that span entertainment facilities, e-commerce and logistics capabilities, aviation dependent industries, smart city developments, and other innovative business concepts," Gautam Adani said, according to the release.

"Our airport expansion strategy is intended to help converge nation's Tier 1 cities with the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in a hub and spoke model. This is fundamental to enabling a greater equalization of India's urban-rural divide, as well as making international travel seamless and smooth. I believe that the economic value that cities create will be maximized around airports and the cities of tomorrow will be built with the airport as the focal point. This is a fundamental lever for modern world development and the rapid build-out of our airport infrastructure will create multiple employment structures that generate thousands of new job opportunities," he added.

At 12 per cent CAGR, AAHL expects its share of passenger traffic to grow from 80 million in FY 20 to 100 million in FY 22.

"With management control of Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), AAHL is poised to join the league of the world's leading airport operators that cater to over 100 million passengers and 200 million non-fliers in a year, presenting a massive over 300 million strong consumer platform," the release said.

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