A viral image shared by Congress handles and other social media users claims to show that the name of the Ahmedabad airport which is ‘Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport’ has been changed to ‘Adani Airport’.
However, the claim is misleading. We accessed recent visuals of the said airport that show that the name has not been changed.
CLAIM
The official Twitter handle of MP Congress shared an image showing a hoarding that reads ‘Welcome to Ahmedabad’ and has logo of ‘Adani airports’ on it.
The claim, taking a dig at the Modi government, mentioned that the airport has been renamed to ‘Adani Airport’.
Gujarat Congress MLA Amit Chavda also shared the image and said that the BJP government has removed the name of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and added ‘Adani airport’.
The image found its presence on Facebook as well with the same claim.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We went to the website of Airports Authority of India (AAI) and searched for Ahmedabad airport. The website mentions the name as ‘Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.’
VISUALS SHOW THAT THE NAME IS UNCHANGED
We accessed recent visuals of the said airport and found that the viral image shows only one side of the hoarding. When one is entering the airport, the hoarding reads: ‘Welcome to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport.’
When ones exits the airport, one can see ‘Welcome to Ahmedabad’ written on the hoarding with logo of ‘Adani airports,’ as seen in the viral image.
The hoarding shows ‘Welcome to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport’ while entering the airport.
(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)
A local journalist also confirmed to The Quint’s WebQoof team that Ahmedabad airport’s name has not been changed. He further shared images of the said airport that were taken on the night of Thursday, 17 December.
The hoarding shows ‘Welcome to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport’ while entering the airport.
(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)
ADANI GROUP HANDLES OPERATIONS OF AHMEDABAD AIRPORT
However, it must be noted that in November, the Adani Group took over the operations of the Ahmedabad airport, a PTI report mentioned. The official handle of AAI also tweeted mentioning that they handed over the airport to Adani Ahmedabad International Airport Ltd.
In November 2018, the government had cleared a proposal for managing six AAI-run airports on public-private partnership (PPP) basis. The move to manage the six airports on PPP basis, according to AAI, is part of an initiative to provide world-class infrastructure and services to stakeholders.
The Adani Group won the bids for all the six airports namely Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati.
As per the website of Adani Enterprises, the key particulars of draft concession agreement mention that the term of the agreement is “50 years from the COD (as defined in the Concession Agreement).”
Operations, management and development are included in the scope of the project, the website further states.
WHO CHANGES THE NAMES OF AIRPORTS?
A 2018 article published in India Today mentioned that for the changing the name of an airport, “a resolution has to be first passed by the state Assembly. Then it has to be passed by the Union cabinet and finally notified in the Gazette of India.”
For instance, in the case of the then Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, a resolution was passed in the Maharashtra Assembly and was then sent to the Centre in 2016, an Indian Express report mentioned.
In 2018, the then Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu had tweeted that the said airport was renamed to Chhatrapati Shivaji ‘Maharaj’ International Airport.
Evidently, Congress handles shared a misleading claim that the name of Ahmedabad airport has been changed to ‘Adani airport.’
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