An irate group of Shiv Sainiks vandalised a brand new "Adani Airport" signboard erected by Adani Airport Holding Ltd. (AAHL) outside the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) here on Monday, in protest against the AAHL’s move to rename the city airport christened after the Maratha warrior which they dubbed as “an insult” to the people of Maharashtra.
Still fresh from jubilation of taking over the management of CSMIA from the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), the Adani group tasted anger of the Shiv Sainiks over the renaming of CSMIA, as the Shiv Sainiks went on a rampage and tore down a brand new "Adani Airport" signboard erected by the AAHL.
Raising slogans like ‘Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ki jai ho’, Shiv Sainiks climbed up the landscaped garden outside the city airport where the controversial hoardings have been erected, uprooted AAHL sign boards in English and Marathi languages and planted saffron flags there.
Monday’s protests by the Shiv Sainks were in line with the serious reservations expressed by Sena MP and party spokesperson Sanjay Raut over the renaming over the CSMIA as Adani Airport Holding Ltd. (AAHL). “It is Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. We had undertaken an agitation and had the city named as CSMIA. We do not accept if the airport is named after any industrialist. It will remain as CSMIA,” Raut said.
“The AAHL employees have been given T-shirts with Adani Airport written on them. You have to use binoculars to see the name of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj written in such small letter. This is an insult to the great Maratha warrior. When the Adani group ignores our reservations about the renaming of the airport, you can expect the kind of angry reaction from the Shiv Sainiks as the one you witnessed in the afternoon,” Shiv Serna MP Arvind Sawant said.
“The name of Chhatrpati Shivaji is not known just in Maharashtra but in the entire country. Earlier we had a big company GVK group that was managing the Airport. But, it did not name the airport after the group. Has Industrialist bought the entire Airport? Why is the industrialist trying to destabilise Mumbai and Maharashtra by resorting to this kind of acts? And for what?,” Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar asked.
Meanwhile, reacting to the Shiv Sena’s protests, an AAHL spokesperson said:"In light of the incidents around Adani Airports branding at the Mumbai International Airport, we firmly assure that Adani Airports Holding Limited (AAHL) has merely replaced the previous branding with Adani Airports branding and that no change has been made to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport’s branding or positioning at the terminal
“The branding at CSMIA is in compliance with the norms and guidelines of Airport Authority of India (AAI). AAHL will continue to adhere to all the guidelines laid out by the government in the interest of the aviation community at large,” the spokesperson added.
The AAHL’s move to erect a new sign board comes nearly three weeks after AAHL a wholly owned subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd, took over the management control of Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) from the GVK Group. It may be recalled that on July 13, the AAHL had taken over the management control of Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) from the GVK Group. The development had followed approvals received from the Government of India, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) of Maharashtra, and the Government of Maharashtra.
MIAL is India’s second busiest airport by both passenger and cargo traffic. With eight airports in its management and development portfolio, AAHL is now India's largest airport infrastructure company, accounting for 25% airport footfalls.
With the addition of MIAL, AAHL will now also control 33% of India’s air cargo traffic. While the world navigates its way out of an unprecedented crisis, post-pandemic demand for air travel in India and the rest of the world is expected to surge.