Surging traffic volumes at Patna airport expected to boost ad revenues

According to an Airports Authority of India (AAI) report, the Jayaprakash Narayan International (JPNI) Airport at Patna witnessed a whopping 48.8% increase in passenger flow in the first three quarters of the ongoing fiscal 2017-18 as the against passenger flow in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

The Patna airport handled 22,66,593 passengers between April and December in 2017, whereas the figure for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal stood at 15,23,395. However, it emerges that the traffic growth has not augmented the advertising revenues from the airport media.

Shashi Chaudhary of Century Group of Companies which handles the media rights for Patna airport shares, “The year 2017 has been pretty satisfactory, however there was a slight drop in the last quarter in comparison with 2016, the reason being the absence of hefty spenders like Vivo & OPPO which created a splash of advertising in 2016.” Currently, the prime spending category at the airport comprise BSFI brands.

In terms of monthly passenger movement, the Patna airport handled 2,42,025 passengers in December 2017 as against 1,32,292 in December 2016.

However, Shashi expects the revenue to be hiked in this financial year as he states that out of 4 airports, Patna is going to have 24 hour operations which will drive huge number of footfalls there. Also, a new terminal is coming up at the airport which will boost the passenger handling capacity and flights. These developments augur well for the concessionaire.

The number of flights at the airport will go up 51 with the commencement of 24x7 operations from March 25. New direct flights to cities, including destinations like Chandigarh, Indore, Ahmedabad and Guwahati.