Tag Archives: Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has registered growth of more than 15% and 22% in its revenues and profits after tax, respectively in the financial year 2016-17 as compared to the financial year 2015-16. While its traditional businesses have grown at a healthy rate, growth in the new businesses and new markets also contributed to its revenues, according to AAI annual report 2016-17. The major factors for hike in revenue are increase in route navigational charges and terminal landing charges; increase in landing, housing and parking charges; increase in passenger service fee; increase in other revenue like trading concession, rent and services, cargo, UDF and other miscellaneous revenue, and increase in share of revenue from Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) & Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (MIAL).

Delhi and Mumbai airports are set to close their runways for maintenance at different periods starting next month. IGIA’s one of the runways will be closed for repair work for 13 days starting November 15. Mumbai airport in will remain shut for six hours thrice a week between February 7, 2019 and end of March. “The works are scheduled to be undertaken for 13-day duration starting from November 15, 2018. This will lower the capacity of IGI Airport by 50 arrivals and 50 departures per day in this duration,” a DIAL spokesperson said. The spokesperson also said these works are essential for safe aircraft operations and to avoid sudden disruptions that cause greater impact due to time required for planning the logistics. Mumbai airport will also undertake runway maintenance and repair in two phases between October and March, a move that is likely to affect as many as 300 flights per day during the period. Due to the work, both the runways– 09/27 and 14/32– will remain shut for operations between 11 am and 5 pm on October 23, a spokesperson said. In the second phase, the maintenance and repair work on the intersection will be carried out between February 7 and March 30 (except on March 21) from 11 am to 5 pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.  

GVK Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), the company that administers the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), has inducted first-of-its-kind Advanced Passenger Evacuation Vehicle for rescuing stranded personnel from inaccessible areas of aircraft. The vehicle covers all types of aircraft currently used in the Aviation industry, including A380 which is the biggest civilian aircraft available now. This highly developed vehicle will be used for rescuing stranded personnel, wherein conventional alighting systems cannot be employed. In the unlikely event of an aircraft veering away from its normal path, this equipment can be rushed to the spot and the attached ladder can be extended up to aircraft door for passengers or crew to be safely evacuated. This ladder can be extended up to a maximum height of 8.3 metres. The escape stairs have high evacuation load capacity of approximately 115 people at one time. This machine is equipped with an engine of 540 HP which will give an acceleration of 0-80 km per hour in less than 40 seconds which is one of the fastest in this category. The vehicle is fitted with high pressure smoke ventilation system which can remove smoke from fuselage/ cockpit and increase chances of surviving. This highly developed machine can also reach off-road surfaces with 6X6 wheel drive system on single wheel configuration

GVK Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), the company that administers the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) has introduced another initiative to enhance passenger experience at the airport premises. Passengers can now use extended check-in facility that will be available at the hotels in Mumbai. This facility is presently introduced at hotels like Sahara Star, Hyatt Regency, Taj Santacruz, ITC Maratha, Hilton Mumbai International Airport and LaLiT so far. This facility can be used by anyone who has the access to these hotels. By the use of this facility, passengers will be able to save on time and have a stress-free experience at the airport. GVK Mumbai Airport also has equipped Terminals with various self-service check-in facilities. CSIA is the pioneer to introduce facilities like check-in kiosks, generating boarding pass through CUSS, generating Baggage tag through CUSS, and use of self bag drop facility for a faster check-in experience. All the airlines operating out of Terminal 1 of CSIA are now on SBD (self-bag drop facility) making Terminal 1 the only terminal in the country to have a fully automated check in system. The integration of new technology allows the processing of a significant number of passengers to be decentralised from the airport and allows for better use of airport resources.

To promote the flights to Amsterdam, together with CSIA Mumbai, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has installed an experiential activity at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport targeting the international flyers. The installation is made so thematically that the flyers can have a taste of ‘Mini Amsterdam’ during their transit time and before they board the flight from Mumbai. As Holland is known to be the biking capital of the world, KLM India has installed a cycling activity, which is a nice way for passengers to spend time while waiting to board their flights. The activity also gives a chance to the flyers to win goodies, airline discount vouchers, food coupons and much more. It is communicated via social media and will be live until end of June. From Mumbai, passengers fly on KLM’s latest Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which has 30 World Business Class seats, 45 Economy Comfort seats and 219 Economy Class seats. Speaking about this activity, Max Smits, General Manager, Air France – KLM, Indian Sub-Continent said, “We are happy to collaborate with MIAL (Mumbai International Airport Limited) regarding this activity to boost the KLM presence out of Mumbai and inspire flyers to choose KLM for travel to Amsterdam and beyond. KLM started its direct service from Mumbai to Amsterdam last year during winter 2017 with three weekly flights. For the winter schedule of 2018, we will be adding another flight making it as four weekly flights from Mumbai.”

The international airports of Mumbai and New Delhi have been rated as the number one airports in the Asia Pacific region serving over 40 million passengers a year. This is announced by the Airports Council International (ACI) – a trade association of 1,953 member airports across 176 countries – for its Airport Service Quality (ASQ) ratings it conducts every year. Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) operated and managed by GVK MIAL shared the spot with Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) for the World’s Best Airport for customer experience. They were selected by millions of passengers in a survey carried out by ACI. The Hyderabad airport became the number one in the 5-15 million passengers per annum category for the year 2017. As part of the ACI’s worldwide programme, passengers were surveyed across international airports for their feedback on 34 key performance indicators including airport access, check-in, security screening, restrooms, stores and restaurants. This year an unprecedented 16 airports were first-time winners, which reflects the increasingly competitive airport industry operating environment, where continuous service improvement is a key ingredient in business performance. These include Indore and Ahmedabad apart from Athens, Zagreb and Bandung.  

In a historic move, an aircraft carrying perishables arrived at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) from Kabul, Afghanistan, marking the launch of a dedicated air freight corridor service between the two cities. An initiative implemented with the joint efforts of Danish Sarwar, Vice President of Afghanistan and Chennamanneni Vidyasagar Rao, Governor of Maharashtra, this connectivity will provide the land-locked Afghanistan greater access to markets in Maharashtra. Additionally, it will allow Afghan businessmen to leverage the economic growth, enhance trade networks and offer Afghan farmers direct access to the markets in western India for their perishable goods. The event was presided over by the Principal Secretary, Govt. of Maharashtra, diplomats from the office of Governor of Maharashtra and officials of the Consulate General of Afghanistan. The dignitaries along with officials of CSIA welcomed the inaugural flight routed Kabul-Mumbai-Kabul which carried 40 tons of fresh apples on the inbound and 20 tons of bananas along with 20 tons of fresh tomatoes on the outbound.

GVK Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) inaugurated the Travel Club lounge at Terminal 1 of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA). Set to be operated by TFS, the lounge promises luxurious hospitality and high quality services, assuring maximum comfort to passengers transiting through the domestic terminal. Passengers can walk in for a hot breakfast, a scrumptious lunch, an evening snack or a light dinner. They can choose their meal from a huge spread of delectable cuisines that are freshly prepared and top it up with a glass of their preferred drink. All the lounges at CSIA are a hallmark of quality and excellence which are recognised at various award ceremonies, globally. The GVK Lounge by TFS Performa was recently awarded as the ‘World’s Leading Airport Lounge’ for the third time in a row at the renowned World Travel Awards held in Vietnam.

In a move to enhance air connectivity, Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) welcomed Dutch Carrier, KLM’s Mumbai and Amsterdam services on October 30. The airline will be operating 294-seater Boeing 787-9 aircraft with 30 World Business Class, 45 Economy Comfort Class And 219 Economy Class. The flights will operate thrice a week. Earlier, Mumbai-Amsterdam route was served with daily services offered by Jet Airways. Along with KLM, the route will be served with a total of ten services per week. Last week, CSIA welcomed Thai Smile’s maiden flight on the Mumbai-Bangkok route, the second airline after Thai Lion to start services on the sector within a month.

Singapore Airlines has announced the introduction of its A350 services to India. Mumbai will be the 16th destination within its network to receive the Airbus A350-900 aircraft. The daily scheduled Singapore Airlines flight SQ421 will be served by this new aircraft and the inaugural A350 service will depart from Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai at 1145hrs on 01 July 2017. With advanced technology and superior operating efficiency, the A350-900 offers customers an improved travelling experience with features such as higher ceilings, larger windows, an extra wide body and lighting designed to reduce jetlag. Customers will also be able to enjoy our latest-generation cabin products as well as the award-winning, KrisWorld inflight entertainment system. The aircraft is fitted with 253 seats, in a three-class configuration – 42 in Business Class, 24 in Premium Economy and 187 in Economy. Singapore Airlines took delivery of its first A350-900 in March 2016 and now has 15 of the aircraft type in its fleet, with another 52 on firm order, including seven of an ultra-long-range A350-900ULR variant. Singapore Airlines is the launch customer for the A350-900ULR, for which deliveries will begin in 2018. The aircraft will be used to re-launch non-stop flights between Singapore and both New York and Los Angeles. “Singapore Airlines continually looks for opportunities to enhance the travel experience of our Indian patrons. The launch of A350 services to India is a testament to our commitment towards operating a modern and young fleet across the world,” said David Lim, General Manager India, Singapore Airlines. In conjunction with Singapore Airlines 70th anniversary, travellers from Mumbai can enjoy the A350 experience with special fares starting from Rs 22,070 to Singapore.