Male

A report by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) has revealed that Male’ Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA), with a profit of $6.65 million, was the most profitable airport for India’s GMR Group in the final quarter of last year.

CAPA, a leading group in global aviation knowledge and market analysis, said in its report that from 1 October to 31 December 2011, GMR’s revenue from INIA was $70 million, while profit after tax was $6.65 million.

The largest airport managed by GMR with highest passenger traffic, the Delhi Airport, made a loss of $24.6 million for the same period.

The aircraft movement for Delhi Airport was 82,840 and its number of passengers was 10 million; while the aircraft movement for INIA was 9,390 with 760,000 passengers.

CAPA’s earlier report on GMR for the first quarter of last year indicated that it made $49.1 million revenue, and profit after tax of $4.6 million from INIA.

Based on figures which have been published by CAPA, GMR has made profits exceeding $11.25 million from INIA.

Profits of INIA have contributed to 41 percent of GMR’s overall revenue.

Highlighting that INIA is on the route networks of airlines such as Emirates, Sri Lankan Airlines, Etihad Airways, Malaysia Airlines, and Qatar Airways, CAPA reported that 22 percent of traffic at INIA is by Sri Lankan Airlines, while 18.4 percent is by Emirates, and 24 percent is by other airlines.

The report also states that INIA becomes the most profitable airport for GMR as a result of high airport fees, which have been increased by a considerable amount since November 2011.

Complaints were filed by Sri Lankan Airlines and Qatar Airways following the fee hikes.

A senior official representing these airlines told Sun Online today that only Malaysia Airlines and Etihad Airways could agree to the raised fees.

“All airlines are billed based on the increased fees. However, only two airlines pay according to the increased amounts; the rest pay lower fees. The fees are high compared with other airports,” he said.

A letter was sent by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in February to the government of Maldives, in relation to the high fees of INIA. IATA pointed out that compared with other airports in the region and big airports of the world, the fuel charge and other fees at INIA are too high.

The Maldivian government did not receive any income from GMR for the past three months – the government was in fact required to pay GMR $1.5 million, as a result of the amount GMR was allowed to deduct from the concession fee payable to the government.

GMR has also filed a case to an arbitration court in Singapore, in relation to the issue of $25 of Airport Development Charge per passenger.