The government has accorded in principle approval for leasing of six airports of Airports Authority of India for operation, management and development through Public Private Partnership.

These airports are Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, and Mangaluru.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today that AAI floated a global tender for inviting bids and identified winning bidder.

He said the government has decided to hand over Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Mnagaluru airports to the winning bidder in the first phase.