Hotel Ambassador’s Sky Chef, a landmark located close to Mumbai International Airport, has been served an eviction notice by the Mumbai airport authorities. Claiming they need the land for operational puroposes
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Hotel Ambassador’s Sky Chef, a landmark located close to Mumbai International Airport, has been served an eviction notice by the Mumbai airport authorities. As per reports the airport operators have done so as they need the land occupied by Sky Chef for operational purposes.
In a report by Times of India, the Mumbai unit of Sky Chef has been in charge of in-flight dining since the eighties. A source said, “On May 20, the 30-year old land lease agreement between the hotel and Airports Authority of India (AAI), expired and the latter decided not to renew the agreement.”
The airport authorities had appointed, privately owned Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL), who served the notice since they had plans to extend operations onto the 15000 sq m plot leased out to Sky Chef. A source told TOI that, “It is located close to the airport and so is a prime plot for extending airport operations. It's not yet finalised what the land would be used for.” This is not the first instance that MIAL has served an eviction notice. In the last week of May, Narang International Hotels Pvt. Ltd. (NIHPL), the company that owns Hotel Ambassidor, petitioned Bombay High court to stay the eviction proceedings. In a statement to TOI, a source said, “After the license agreement between NIHPL and AAI expired, NIHPL no longer has a right over the airport premises, but they argued that the discussions between MIAL and NIHPL amounted to further extension of the license period in the absence of a registered formal agreement.” So far the court has not granted any relief to NIHPL, and the matter is expected to be re-heard on July 11.
Ambassador’s Sky Chef started its inflight catering business in 1942, when it used handle catering from the hotel situated in South Mumbai. Subsequently, the Mumbai unit was set up in the eighties after the AAI built a new terminal at Sahar to exclusively cater to international flights. In 1987, AAI leased a 15,000 sq m plot to NIHPL, which grew substantially. Located just one kilometer from the international terminal and three kilometers from the domestic terminal, NIHPL grew to handle catering contracts from a large number of domestic and international carriers. Currently Sky Chef runs out a unit that is 2,50,000 of built up are and produces about 30,000 inflight meals a day. Sky Chef isn’t the first establishment to receive an eviction notice from AAI. Earlier this year the AAI served an eviction notice to Hotel Leela Venture, when their lease agreement that was signed in 1986, expired. The unit they had leased was 18,000 sq m of land. AAI alleged that the hotel had violated the terms of agreement and had failed to pay its dues to AAI. Eventually, the AAI terminated its contract with Leela after issuing a notice for the dues to be paid, and an order to hand over the property by October 31, 2016. As of February this year, AAI had re-issued the eviction notice which the hotel is contesting in court.
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