'ADANI' tag removed from Mangaluru Airport name

The 'Adani airports tag has been removed from the Mangaluru International Airport (MIA). The name boards, which were there prior to the Adani group's take over of operations at the airport in October 2020, have now been restored.

Mangaluru: The tag 'Adani aiports' has been removed from hoardings and displays of the Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) after months of protests by social activists. The name boards, which were there prior to the Adani group's takeover of operations at the airport in October 2020, have now been restored, said social activist Dilraj Alva. Alva had raised the issue to airport authorities.

"This airport is a state-run airport operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI)," said Alva. "The legal battle waged in this regard has now yielded result and the original name board has been restored from Friday. The changes have been made in MIA's official Facebook and Twitter accounts also," Alva said. Further, he said, "We don't have any issues with naming airport with Tulu Nadu (Tulu speaking region) Achievers' name.

The 'Adani airports' tag on the brandings and displays of the airport was objected legally. Social activists and the Airport Employees Union had filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court in February 2021, challenging the Union Government’s decision to hand over the Mangaluru airport to Adani Enterprises Limited, stating that the privatization of airports is illegal. The Karnataka High Court had reserved orders in this petition.

However, as per the agreement for operations and maintenance of the airport, there was no provision to change the airport name, which was revealed through an RTI reply. Three committees of the AAI found out that Adani group violated branding norms at Ahmedabad, Mangaluru and Lucknow airports. A letter was sent to the group asking to take "corrective measures."

The Adani group won the bids to run the three airports in February 2019. Its companies -- Adani Lucknow International Airport Limited (ALIAL), Adani Mangaluru International Airport Limited (AMIAL) and Adani Ahmedabad International Airport Limited (AAIAL) -- signed the concession agreements with the AAI in February 2020. These companies then took charge of airports in October and November 2020.