Remarkable turnaround makes flying a delight in India

India's airports have undergone immense changes in the past few years, but how have the major airports managed to transform themselves from worn-out waiting lounges to five-star shopping heavens?

The National explains.

What was the situation prior to privatisation?

Five years ago, India's airports were in dire condition, lacking proper infrastructure and passenger facilities.

The government did not want to invest further before it had made a decision whether to privatise the country's largest airports.

Who was in charge of the airports back then?

All airports in India were owned by the government and operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), which is overseen by India's ministry of civil aviation.

Most of AAI's revenue came from airline landing and parking fees.

Even today, only a tiny fraction of AAI's operations are profitable, according to the government, with many airports incurring heavy losses because of running costs.

What happened?

After India's airports were deemed an embarrassment for the fast-growing economy, the government embarked on a multibillion-dollar airport modernisation programme.

In 2006, the government introduced a public-private partnership model to upgrade and develop the country's two main airports - Mumbai and Delhi - as well as construct greenfield operations in Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Who won the deals?

The deals to run the airports went to GMR, a Bangalore infrastructure company, and GVK, based in Hyderabad. GMR runs New Delhi and Hyderabad airports and GVK runs Mumbai and Bangalore.

What's the situation today?

Today Mumbai and Delhi airports are often cited as success stories of modern India, as both have benefited from the most dramatic changes taking place over the past few years.

The Delhi domestic-cum-international terminal alone has a retail area of about 200,000 square feet. Some of it is still unused.

GMR and GVK originally started hiring out shop space to operators, but today they have a revenue-sharing model with many retailers.

The Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune airports are cited as having maximum retail potential, because the majority who visit these airports are business travellers with high disposable incomes.

Delhi has a large number of tourists and people visiting religious sites or relatives. Mumbai has many transit passengers - on their way to the Gulf, for instance.

What's in the pipeline?

Mumbai and Delhi are still being upgraded, and it is estimated that this will cost the government about US$4 billion (Dh14.69bn). Both airports are due to be finished by 2016, the government has said.

A further investment of $8.5bn has been planned for the development of other airports. Nearly half will go to upgrading three metro airports - in Kolkata, Chennai and Trivandrum.

The rest will be invested in other non-metro airports and in the modernisation of existing facilities. The remaining 121 airports and 329 airstrips - except Kochin, which is private - are still run by AAI, but most are in dire need of investment in infrastructure and amenities.