Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has asked the Centre to reconsider the decision to privatise the Airports Authority of India (AAI)-managed Thiruvananthapuram International Airport and five other airports by entrusting operation, management and development through a public-private partnership (PPP) model.
The decision to rope in private operators for the six airports has been taken in the guise of attracting investment, improving efficiency, and providing better service to flyers. All these are possible by retaining the airports in the public sector, the Chief Minister said in a Facebook post.
The move has come at a time when land acquisition proceedings are in the final phase for the development of the airport. In addition to the eight hectares of land being acquired now for the new international terminal, Mr. Vijayan said the State had earlier too made land available to the AAI.
The Centre is attempting to privatise the civil aviation sector in a phased manner and the privatisation of the airports is part of the agenda, he said.