Business jet owners wrestle with Mumbai airport over eviction notice

Corporate titans in Mumbai face eviction from Adani-owned airport, sparking controversy over relocation and parking fees.

Some of Mumbai’s corporate titans such as Essar Group, Aditya Birla Group, JSW Steel and Taj Group are fuming over an eviction order targeting their business jets at the Adani-owned Chhatrapati Shivaji Mumbai International Airport (CSMIA). Industry insiders claim the move is a strong-arm tactic to force them to relocate to the soon-to-open Navi Mumbai airport, also under Adani’s control.

Adding fuel to fire, Navi Mumbai airport has decided to levy a ₹20 crore parking stand fee, plus an annual fee, a rate which some call “illegal”, arguing that only the tariff regulator has the authority to fix such charges. The move has also worried chartered plane service providers who offer private air travel. They said clients still preferred the old Mumbai airport because of its proximity to posh areas of the city known for its traffic jams.

This means charter operators will have to drop them there and fly to Navi Mumbai for parking and as a result, there will be a 30% rise due to extra fuel costs and additional expenses for using two airports.

A spokesperson of the Adani Airport Holding Limited (AAHL) told The Hindu, the relocation was necessitated to develop and improve capacity at CSMIA. It maintains that the fees for parking stands would be determined through an open bidding process, based on market demand and other factors. The AAHL is the largest airport operator in the country with eight airports in its fold that record 23-25% passenger traffic in the country. In other words, one in four air travellers make use of its airports.

On March 30, Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) handed over termination letters to several corporate houses to vacate the parking space used by them by July 31, 2025 for the construction of a taxiway for aircraft. The airport operator said this was necessary for carrying out airport development works that include the construction of a parallel taxiway as well as enhancement of one of the two runways.

The Business Aircraft Operators’ Association (BAOA) responded asserted they were not squatters occupying parking space in an unauthorised manner, but paying the prescribed rental. They said the eviction was contrary to principles governing public infrastructure management.

BAOA has written to the tariff regulator Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA), demanding that CSMIA raise its parking capacity, which it says is a ‘critical requirement’ and that the cost of relocation must not be imposed on business jets. They also demanded a viable alternative at no additional cost.