CSMIA sees minimal increase in traffic despite government nod

Airport saw only 52 flights despite permission for 100

Despite being allowed to mount more flights from Mumbai, airlines chose not to immediately increase their flights and instead introduce them gradually, spread over the week.

On Monday, the government had permitted Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) to cater to 100 domestic commercial passenger flight movements — 50 departures and 50 arrivals. This would mean doubling the number of flights from the current total of 50 flights a day.

A look at flight schedules released by the GVK-led Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (MIAL) showed a total of 52 scheduled domestic flights, which include 26 departures and 26 arrivals, on Tuesday. CSMIA catered to a total of 6,410 passengers which include 4,611 passengers at departures and 1,799 at arrivals.

Seven airlines operated to 14 sectors, with the highest passenger load capacity seen on the Delhi route departing out of CSMIA. The first flight departed to Kolkata at 6.05 a.m. while the first flight arrived at 9.40 a.m. from Bengaluru. These were operated by SpiceJet and IndiGo, respectively.

“None of the airlines operated flights to sectors like Chennai, Lucknow, Bhubaneshwar, Kochi or Goa. However, Delhi, Kolkata, Varanasi and Ranchi had multiple options,” an airport official said.

CSMIA has catered to 1,056 domestic commercial passenger flight movements since May 25. These included 531 departures and 525 arrivals. From then till June 15, the airport has catered to a total of 1,30,385 passengers which include 91,593 passengers at departures and 38,792 at arrivals.

An IndiGo official confirmed that the airline would be adding flights over time.

“We are adding a few additional flights to and from Mumbai. Further additions to the network will firm up over the course of the week,” a Vistara spokesperson said.

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