Coronavirus / Mumbai airport allowed to handle 100 domestic flights from tomorrow

Mumbai: Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) will be handling 50 more flights from Tuesday taking the total number of flights operating in and out of the airport to 100. The airport commenced its domestic flight operations from May 25, with restrictions from the state government to handle 25 departures and 25 arrivals.

The airport operator-- Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) said, “Starting June 16, the airport is permitted to cater to a total of 100 domestic commercial passenger flight movements which includes 50 departures and 50 arrivals.”

Unlike other airports, the Mumbai airport was seeing 25 departures and 25 arrival flights as the state government had not permitted more flights to operate to and from the city. This was done as a precautionary step to avoid the spread of Covid-19 to and from other states. The 25 departure flights mostly operated to places like Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Varanasi, Kochi, Gorakhpur, Jaipur, Patna and Hyderabad.

“The move will see an increase in the sectors that we are currently handling. We are glad about the new progress that has come in favour of CSMIA, and we continue to relentlessly work towards ensuring the safety of our passengers and smooth functioning at the airport,” a MIAL spokesperson said.

The airport received permission to extend its operations from 50 to 100 flight movements on Monday before which the airlines had already scheduled their flights according to the restrictions.

“The airport operator has alerted all the airlines about the development and a revised scheduled of flights that will be operated on Tuesday will be made. This relaxation in the restriction is a big relief to all the stranded passengers who have not been able to fly back to their destinations,” said an airport source.