Can an Indian airport operator own an airline? Concerns over market access, fair play

6 min readNew DelhiJul 25, 2026 06:06 AM IST Terminal 3 at the Delhi international airport, which is operated by the GMR group (74% stake). Currently, there are stringent restrictions on airport operators having stakes in airlines. Photo: Wikimedia Commons There is talk that the Centre may be weighing policy relaxations that could allow airport operators to own airlines, with preliminary internal discussions being underway as per sources. While nothing is concrete yet, such a move could pave the way for airport operators like the Adani group and the GMR group to enter the airline business. Earlier, there were indications that initial discussions on cross-ownership in airport operators and airlines followed the Adani group’s request for an enabling policy environment, but Adani Enterprises