India's Delhi airport operator sues government over flights from defence airbase

The operator of the Indian capital's international airport, majority owned by GMR Airports, is suing the government for allowing commercial flights from a nearby defence aerodrome, legal papers showed in a case to be heard on Monday.

The airport in Delhi is one of India's busiest, with about 73.6 million passengers last year, though it made a loss of $21 million because of higher government fees.

The number of travellers using the Hindon Airport, which Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) calls a defence aerodrome, was about 1,400 on Sunday, according to a post on Hindon's X account.

The Delhi airport will become "economically and financially unviable," after the government permitted commercial flights from the airbase, DIAL said in the March 10 lawsuit.

Shares of GMR Airports fell as much as 0.7% after Reuters reported the case.

In the suit, which Reuters was the first to report, DIAL told the Delhi High Court the government breached aviation rules barring a new airport within an aerial distance of 150 km (90 miles) of an existing one, unless there was passenger demand.

The state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI), which operates the Hindon facility in Ghaziabad, also has a stake and three board seats in DIAL.

DIAL said AAI had a conflict of interest as it was privy to confidential information on DIAL's business practices and strategies.

India's civil aviation ministry did not immediately respond to e-mails seeking comment.

DIAL wants the court to overturn the government's decision, and cites media reports for its contention that flights by Air India Express began operating in March from the Hindon Airforce Station, about 30 km (19 miles) from the Delhi airport.

From 2017, Hindon operated as a temporary extension of the Delhi airport for flights under the Indian government's regional connectivity scheme while the capital's airport expanded.

DIAL is represented by Trilegal, a law firm based in India.