"These airports shall also provide much-needed relief for low cost carriers whose financial position has been negatively impacted by rising aviation fuel prices and operational costs," points out a study released by audit and advisory firm KPMG on Indian airports.
The study has an optimistic outlook towards the future of airport retail as well. It suggests that the takers for airport retail are spread across industries and service providers.
"The food and beverages players have showed the maximum interest in creating a presence in airports, and are closely followed by fashion houses and consumer durable players.
Most international luxury brands consider setting up shop in Indian airports a definite part of their global strategy," the study points out.
The findings also say that despite the aviation sector witnessing one of the worst turmoil of recent times, the growth story of airport infrastructure development is still intact. However, the economic slowdown in the development process may change the mechanism of financing the growth.
"In the absence of significant liquidity in the market, Airports Authority of India and private airport developers may have to rely more on internal accruals and equity for financing these projects and decrease dependency on external debt," the study says.
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