Since the resurgence of air travel, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has witnessed a steady rise in international passenger movement. The airport facilitated over 12,560 international flights in the period between May-November 2020, catering to over 506,000 passengers. These include repatriation and Vande Bharat operations during this time period as well as the air bubble agreements signed by the Government of India.
While CSMIA catered to over 10,300 passengers across 1,060 flights in May 2020, the airport witnessed the movement of over 1,44,400 passengers across over 2,300 ATMs in November 2020. Withstanding the limitations of the pandemic, the airport has worked diligently to provide global connectivity for passengers travelling via CSMIA and introduced 29 new international destinations including Lusaka, Mombasa, Tbilisi amongst others. During this time, CSMIA also joined hands with new international airlines such as Thai AirAsia and South African Airways amongst others.
The ease of restrictions of various countries have played an essential role in the flow of passenger traffic to those destinations. During the period of May-November 2020, CSMIA has registered Dubai, London-Heathrow, Newark, Doha, and Abu Dhabi as the top 5 destinations for passengers flying from Mumbai. Amongst these, Dubai emerged as the route with the highest passenger traffic catering to over 267,600 passengers; followed by London-Heathrow at over 89,800 passengers, Newark with 80,800 passengers, Doha with 58,200 passengers and Abu Dhabi with 39,400 passengers approximately.
Amongst the top airlines catering to these regions, Emirates connected over 114,400 passengers between CSMIA and Dubai, while Indigo and Etihad Airways catered to approximately 32,500 and 22,200 passengers to Doha and Abu Dhabi, respectively. Air India was registered as the top airlines catering to London-Heathrow and Newark with a total of over 89,800 and 80,800 passengers respectively.
Since the advent of the pandemic, CSMIA had implemented numerous SOPs including the preventive measures laid down by health and government bodies to safeguard the well-being of the passengers as well as airport personnel. The RT-PCR test facility at CSMIA for both arriving and departing passengers is a boon for traveler concerns regarding the various quarantine regulations across borders. CSMIA is the first Indian airport to have been accredited under the ACI Health programme and has also been rated amongst top airports around the globe by Safe Travel Barometer for the health and safety measures adopted in the wake of the pandemic.
