‘Airport Eateries Are Expensive Due To High Operational Cost’
Nitin Agarwal, an engineer with a passion for exploring new places and cuisines, explains why airport outlets have to keep their prices a tad higher than normal.
In general, eating out at cafes or restaurants has become quite expensive over the last 10-15 years in the country. One reason behind this is surge is that the disposable income of Indian middle class is steadily going up, and people are willing to spend more for the ‘experience’.
AAP’s Raghav Chadha recently pointed out in Parliament that while aam aadmi can afford airfare, he or she is still unable to afford the expensive food at the eateries at the airport lounges. I think that the high price of food is justified at the airports given a number of factors: the cost of rentals at such outlets, revenue sharing with the airports, stringent regulations about the food quality and higher operational costs due to airports being far away from the city.
I don’t think the eateries have kept the prices high to make more money; it’s just that the ecosystem is such that the cost of overall operations is higher and hence the food has to priced proportionately if the business has to remain profitable.
If these eateries don’t price their products high, the business would not be sustainable and it would cause more inconvenience to passengers than the option to be able to have food while catching a flight at all odd hours. If I draw an analogy, the pricing at the airport is not very different from the pricing in the mall eateries or what one experiences in Europe or the US.
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In any case, the customer has the option to not buy any products or consume food at the airport. Given the easy availability of processed foods like coffee sachets, premix tea, or snacks etc, an air traveller can always plan in advance if he / she is not willing to shell out extra money from the pocket. But, there is a large population of people who value their convenience and are willing to pay the premium for the same at the airports.
In fact, convenience is the biggest factor, especially for the people who are frequent flyers with demanding jobs and high-profile designations who virtually live out of suitcases. Such people, as it is, have deep pockets and are used to eating at luxurious airport lounges between catching flights rather than having the time or the inclination to pack some grub from home.
Moreover, I feel it’s only those who can afford are actually eating at these airport lounge eateries. Domestic flights have a duration of barely 2-3-hours and usually people eat from home before boarding. But of course, in case of unforeseen delays, these eateries come to one’s rescue. Food is a necessity and people do spend to eat in a good place.
To conclude, I think the high pricing is justified at the airports and I look forward to having more global options of food at all Indian airports.
As told to Deepa Gupta
