You can use new terminal at domestic airport from Tuesday

Domestic flyers could nurture a hobby for plane spotting while killing time before boarding their flight at the Mumbai airport from Tuesday.

Domestic flyers could nurture a hobby for plane spotting while killing time before boarding their flight at the Mumbai airport from Tuesday.

HT Image

The high roof glass facades of the new swank domestic terminal at the city airport closely overlook the runway.

It was inaugurated on Saturday but will be thrown open to the public from Tuesday.

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Chief Minister Ashok Chavan unveiled the structure spanning across 2,97,194 sq-m, arguably as big as the whole of Hyderabad airport.

Nine hundred passengers can sip coffee, shop or fine-tune a PowerPoint presentation in the wi-fi enabled terminal at a given time.

“The opening of the new terminal 1C is yet another testament to our endeavour to consistently provide passengers with world-class travel experience,” said G.V. Krishna Reddy, chairman, Mumbai International Airport Limited.

Unlike the existing two terminals, 1C will not have check-in counters. Instead, it will have six aerobridges.

Passengers checking in from existing terminals can walk into the aircraft using these boarding bridges. Until now, passengers spent at least 10 minutes in airline coaches to make the same journey.

The level above has a massive food court.

The terminal was originally scheduled to open last December. The airport operator had planned to construct a hotel inside the terminal but the plan has been put on hold.