Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) on Thursday said air traffic is likely to start picking up in six months’ time.
Speaking to this reporter during a tour of the airport, senior officials said the airport operator, GVK, had left it open for airlines to decide on which sectors they want to operate in, given the restrictions on flights.
“We estimate that it will be about six months before passengers take back to flying and the airport picks up pace. Till then, it seems to be a low phase that we never thought could happen,” an official said.
Officials expect more flights to be added by June 15 as the State government will relax the cap on 50 flights a day at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) .
“It might take a few more weeks before the number of flights to and from Mumbai is revised. We are in touch with the State government on this issue. We are ready to open up slots as required,” the official said. Another official looking after terminal operations said from May 25, people had been wanting to fly back home, to their loved ones. “The coming week will give us a better picture of passenger profiles. That is what we are waiting for,” the official said.
Touch-free environment
To ensure physical distancing norms are followed at every step, the airport has put up shields at baggage drop counters, which were previously used as check-in counters. While some airports use cameras for staff to look at boarding passes without touching them, CSMIA has fitted each counter with a magnifying glass to ensure a touch-free environment while reading the documents.
Foolproof: Passengers undergo thermal screening and receive quarantine stamps at the airport on Thursday.
Like others, passengers using Mumbai airport will be able to avoid a pat-down check, if they ensure that all metal objects are placed in the trays. “If the door frame metal detector does not beep, then there will be no need to stop before the Central Industrial Security Force personnel,” an official said.
An average of 300 passengers were also making use of the food court, a representative of the food and beverage concessionaire at the airport informed. “Our pre-COVID-19 footfall was 3,000 and in the past three days, it has been about 300 a day,” the official said.
50% outlets open
About 50% of the outlets are operational with limited staff, MIAL officials said. “Since the lockdown is in force and flights have just restarted operations, other stores and outlets will reopen soon,” an official said.
Day 4: 50 flights cater to over 5,500 passengers
On Thursday, the fourth day of resumption of domestic flights in the country, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) operated 50 scheduled flights and catering to more than 5,500 passengers. A CSMIA spokesperson said five airlines connected to 16 sectors operated the flights.
The highest passenger load capacity was seen on the Mumbai-Bhubaneshwar route with an IndiGo flight to Bhubaneswar carrying 205 passengers. There were three flights to Kolkata, which opened for domestic flights on Thursday. Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet together carried 551 passengers.
“CSMIA catered to 5,583 passengers, which include 4,255 passengers at departures and 1,328 at arrivals,” the spokesperson said. The first flight departed to Ranchi at 6 a.m., while the first flight arrived at 8.10 p.m. from Lucknow, which was operated by AirAsia India and IndiGo respectively.
