New Delhi, May 12
Capital expenditure (capex) at small private airports in India — nearly half of the overall upcoming private airport capex – will be up 50-60 per cent on average in fiscals 2026-2028 compared with previous three fiscal years, a report showed on Monday.
This will be driven by capacity expansion due to substantial increase in terminal utilisation levels, according to the report by Crisil Ratings.
On the other hand, capex at large private airports – remaining half of the overall upcoming private airport capex – will see a decline during the same period as much of the capacity expansion has been completed or is nearing completion.
“Small private airports are expected to embark on a significant expansion of upto 1.5 times of their current base by fiscal 2028. This is in response to escalating travel demand and moderate capacity on the ground. Strong demand leading to recovery of air traffic movement has yielded a remarkable compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 45 per cent in passenger traffic at small private airports between fiscals 2022 and 2025,” said Ankit Haku, Director, Crisil Ratings.
However, capacity growth at these airports has been relatively sluggish, with a modest CAGR of 20 per cent over this period, resulting in terminal utilisation levels increasing from 60 per cent to 90 per cent and a need to build additional capacity, he added.