Bonds of Delhi, Hyderabad airports drop to lowest since October as COVID hits demand

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With the resurgent COVID-19 wave hitting air travel in India, bonds issued by two of the country's top airport operators - Delhi International Airport and GMR Hyderabad International Airport - dropped to their lowest in nearly three months on January 11.

The Delhi airport issued a note of 6.45 percent 2029, which is of minimum value since October 12, whereas, the 4.75 percent 2026 note issued by the Hyderabad airport is the lowest since October 14, as per the data shared by Bloomberg.

The drop comes amid the dwindling daily passenger footfall, as the surge in COVID-19 infections has led to the re-imposition of curbs in several states. The Union health ministry has urged citizens to "avoid unnecessary travel".

The daily domestic air passenger load, which remained above three lakh since November 5 last year, dropped below the mark on January 4. It has declined further over the past week, with the Ministry of Civil Aviation logging a daily footfall of 2.41 lakh on January 8.

IndiGo airline, which is the country's largest private carrier, on January 9 said it would be reducing its scheduled flight operations by around 20 percent. The decision was taken after considering the decline in demand over the past few days.

"With the reduced demand, we will also be selectively withdrawing some of our flights from service," it said.

"Owing to the increasing number of Omicron infections, large numbers of IndiGo customers are changing their travel plans. In response to customer needs, IndiGo is waiving change fees and is offering free changes for all new and existing bookings made up to 31st January, for flights up to 31st March 2022," the airline added.

Vistara, another low-cost airline, said it is adjusting its capacity in accordance with the reduced demand. "We are also trying to minimise the inconvenience to our customers by offering them various options, such as rescheduling or refund, etc., as applicable," an airline spokesperson said on January 9.