Guwahati: AAI staff stage protest against privatization of airports

Many employees of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) posted at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport in Guwahati staged a protest demonstration on the airport premises on Friday after the government decided to lease out the airport to a private player under the public-private partnership (PPP) model for a period of fifty years.

Azara (Assam):Employees of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport in Guwahati on Friday staged protests against the Central government's move to hand over three airports to Adani group.

The employees, under a joint forum of unions and associations of AAI, staged the protest shouting slogans and waving flags.

"The AAI employees union has been opposing the Central government's move to privatise the airports. We have been opposing this move and we will continue to protest till our demands are fulfilled. The public sector undertaking and its employees had been working amid the COVID 19 situation to help people and the government' move is an injustice being done to our labour," an employee said.

"The motto of the PSUs is to serve the nation but the private companies are here only to earn profit and the passengers will have to pay a heavy price for this. Already people are paying heavy amount for their air travel and this privatisation will become a burden on them," he said.

Reportedly, on Wednesday the Union Cabinet decided to hand over three airports -- LGBI airport, Jaipur airport and Thiruvananthapuram airport to the Adani group for a 50 years' lease. The move was a part of the decision taken by the central government in February 2019 to privatize and auction six airports.