Airport services back to normal in Mumbai

Though flights were not affected, absence of housekeeping staff did create problems.

Passenger services at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport were back to normal with airport employees resuming work after calling off their four-day stir against privatisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports.

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"The night duty staff cleaned the entire airport in a five-hour marathon exercise. The floors are clean, the conveyer belts are functioning and the aerobridges are back in action", said Nitin Jadhav, Joint General Secretary of Airports Authority Employees' Union.

Normalcy has been restored in services in non-core areas such as housekeeping, fire fighting, maintenance, aerobridges and conveyer belts, he added.

The flight operations were also normal, airport officials sources said.

The main entrance to the airport was littered with newspapers, polythene bags and wore a dirty look during the strike. However, the area has been cleaned up and all the garbage lying there has been removed.

Over 3500 Airports Authority of India employees had struck work on February 1. They called off the strike on Saturday following a written assurance from the Government on job security and that they would be kept in the loop for modernisation of airports across the country.

Although the strike did not affect the flight schedule, absence of aerobridges, towing vehicle operators and housekeeping staff created problems for the airlines and the passengers.

Cargo operations, which were also badly hit, have resumed and employees are working round-the-clock to clear the backlog, airport sources said.