Six firms keen to take up Jaipur airport ops

Six companies have shown interest in taking up operations and maintenance of the Jaipur airport, the contracts for which are expected to be awarded by May-end, an official of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said on Friday.

The AAI had invited a request for proposal (RFP) from bidders for operations and maintenance of the passenger terminal building, operations control centre, passenger boarding bridges, apron area and car park, among others.

Of the 11 companies that participated in the pre-bid conference, six have shown interest in the Jaipur airport, said the AAI official who did not wish to be named.

“The contracts are likely to be awarded by May-end.”

The selection of the bidder will be based on not only the lowest bid for managing the airport but also on offering the highest revenue to the AAI by making optimal use of the commercial potential of the terminals.

Unlike the normal practice of a two-stage bidding process in which technical bids are to be submitted first and then the financial ones, the AAI will go for a single bid for getting better pricing, the official said.

At present, a number of agencies handle different sections as most work has been outsourced. The AAI will retain control of the airport traffic control (ATC) and other operations outside the terminal except the car park.

The plan also involves relocation of workforce and equipment as an earlier proposal to hand over management of the Jaipur airport to a private operator had failed due to manpower and revenue sharing issues.

“The objective is to make the entire operation more efficient by bringing it under the ambit of a single agency,” Jaipur airport director JS Balhara told Hindustan Times.

Last year, the Airports Authority of India had rejected Singapore’s Changi Airport’s proposal to operate and maintain Jaipur airport as it was considered financially unviable.

The Jaipur airport operates 48 flights, including six international ones, daily.