Mumbai airport sees 60% traffic growth in June compared to May this year

As the nation is gradually witnessing a lesser impact of the pandemic since last month, Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport has (CSMIA) registered an increase of approximately 60% in passenger traffic in June 2021 as compared to May 2021.

Airport operators believe that this increase in passenger traffic signalled a tip of the passenger confidence in the safety initiatives and protocols adopted by the airport.

CSMIA witnessed approximately 7261,158 passengers travelling by 77,797 flights across domestic and international destinations between January to June, this year. These passengers included 64,87,066 domestic passengers across 63,992 flights and over 7,74,092 international passengers across 13,805 flights.

Dubai emerged as the most popular international destination as it witnessed the highest traffic of over 2,13,770 passengers to and from CSMIA. This was followed by Newark with over 88,010 and Heathrow with 75,470 passengers. Similarly, amongst the domestic destinations from Mumbai, Delhi saw the highest movements with over 9,46,890 passengers followed by Goa with 5,42,350 and Bengaluru with 4,32,180 passengers respectively,” CSMIA official said.

CSMIA currently acts as a gateway to 54 domestic destinations and 21 international destinations for passengers from Mumbai.

In the wake of the second wave of the pandemic in the country, the airport witnessed a growth of approximately 60% in passenger traffic during the month of June 2021 as compared to May 2021.

“CSMIA also saw the addition of new routes destinations on domestic destinations like Dharbhanga, Adampur and Kalaburagi amongst others as well as international destinations like Batam, Armenia, Miami and Houston,” CSMIA spokesperson said.

While the passenger traffic is increasing steadily, the majority of Indian states, as well as international countries, require a negative RT-PCR certificate.

“CSMIA expects a steady passenger flow going forward. The airport is working diligently with its stakeholders, regulatory and government bodies to implement and communicate necessary protocols and procedures for passengers and personnel’s safety at the airport,” the spokesperson concluded.

Airport sources said that Mumbai airport handled around 380 flights on Wednesday. “This is better than May when the airport was hardly seeing 150 daily aircraft movement,” the source said.