Mumbai airport handles record 1,30,374 passengers in 24 hours, highest since pandemic

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Breaking its own single-day record, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), one of the world's busiest single runway airports, handled the highest passenger movement of 1,30,374 on September 17, 2022, the highest since the pandemic, said the airport officials.

The growth in traffic is a result of newer destinations, rising flight movements and an increase in airline capacity at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.

"Close to 95,080 passengers travelled through Terminal 2 (T2) and 35,294 were witnessed travelling through Terminal 1 (T1) with 839 total flight movements on this day," read a statement by CSMIA.

IndiGo Vistara and Go First catered the highest passenger traffic on domestic routes.

Also read: Mumbai airport conducts mock drill to check security setup

As for international, IndiGo, Air India, and Emirates stood among the top 3. Delhi, Bengaluru, and Chennai were the top 3 domestic destinations while Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Singapore remained the top 3 international routes with maximum air traffic.

Adding to the weekend rush, on September 18, 2022, CSMIA again witnessed over 1.3 lakh passengers of which approximately 98,000+ pax travelled domestically while around 32,000 pax were seen travelling on international routes.

According to rating agency Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency of India Limited (ICRA), domestic traffic rose by 5 per cent to 1.02 crore in August 2022, indicating that the aviation industry is set on the road to recovery with normalcy in flight operations.

A surprise drill was also conducted at the Mumbai airport on Saturday which showed the alertness levels of the staff and the authorities were up to the desired level, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) claimed in a statement.

The mock drill was conducted at terminal 2 (T2) wherein the airport received an intimation about a bomb threat during the afternoon hours. Conducted as a surprise drill, it tested not only the airport's disaster response system but also its calm coordination to avert the crisis. The drill started at 1:02 pm and concluded at 1:37 pm on September 17, 2022. The drill included the participation of CSMIA's multiple internal and external stakeholders.

"The exercise began with an intimation call simulated as a bomb threat at 1:02 pm. As an immediate response, a bomb Threat Assessment Committee was convened as per protocol. A terminal evacuation was declared for the airport security group to carry on with further proceedings. The Terminal operations team, CISF Team along with marshals were available to guide passengers toward the safe assembly areas. After successful assessments and checks, the terminal was declared safe from all threats by the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee and the drill was called off at 1:37 pm," read a statement by CSMIA.

All the passengers were provided with refreshments and comfortable seating arrangements after the drill.

CSMIA organises emergency mock drills on a time-to-time basis to assess the alertness, efficiency and preparedness of the airport staff, which was successfully evaluated.