81 airports incur Rs 10,852 crore losses in a decade; 4 in Karnataka lose Rs 560 crore

New Delhi: Eighty-one airports owned and operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) reported loss in 2024-25. Their cumulative loss in the past ten years was Rs 10,852.9 crore, with Safdarjung airport in the national capital topping the list.

At present, there are 162 airports functioning in the country. Twenty-two airports, which were part of the 81 loss-making facilities, are presently not operational. These include Muzaffarpur, Raxaul, Thanjavur, Vellore, Warangal, Malda, Asansol, and Balurghat.

Of the 81 airports, four—Belagavi, Hubballi, Kalaburgi and Mysuru—are in Karnataka and together incurred a loss of Rs 560.26 crore between 2015-16 and 2024-25. The details were provided in a written reply by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol to questions raised by Congress’ Jebi Mather.

Among the airports in Karnataka, Mohol said in the reply tabled earlier this week, Hubballi reported the highest losses in ten fiscals at Rs 226.45 crore, followed by Belagavi at Rs 212.24 crore. Kalaburgi airport incurred a loss of Rs 48.54 crore while Mysuru saw a loss of Rs 73.03 crore.

The Safdarjung airport in Delhi had losses running into Rs 673.91 crore followed by Agartala at Rs 605.23 crore, Hyderabad at Rs 564.97 crore, Dehradun at Rs 488.07 crore, and Vijayawada at Rs 483.69 crore.

Other airports which incurred huge losses include Bhopal at Rs 480.43 crore, Aurangabad at Rs 447.83 crore, Tirupati at Rs 363.71 crore, Khajuraho at Rs 355.53 crore, and Imphal at Rs 355.19 crore, Mohol added.