There has been a massive increase in the number of travellers from Mumbai opting for airways. The official data has recorded almost 100 per cent rise in the number of passengers travelling from Mumbai Airport – both domestic and international – since 2006.
The number of passengers travelling from the airport in 2006 was around 22.25 million but the digits have increased to 48.5 million in the year 2017 which makes Mumbai Airport the second traffic-full airport in the country with 900 flights come and go, in a day.
According to Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), in 2006, the passengers travelling in domestic flights were 14.9 million but until the end of the year 2017, the numbers rose to 34.85 million. Whereas, the international passengers have increased from 7.35 million to 13.65 million. The data states that the major hike in the number of passengers happened post-2013-14.
The Mumbai Airport remains to be one of the busiest and single-runway airports and its Runway Occupancy Time (ROT) has also reduced by 15 seconds, a report by DNA stated. Earlier, the ROT was 65 seconds for an aircraft to land or take-off on the runway but now it is 50 seconds.
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The Maharashtra government is working to construct a new airport in Navi Mumbai which is supposed to adjust the increasing capacity of the commuters. However, MIAL informed that the Mumbai Airport can handle the passenger traffic up to 60 million.
To reduce the chaos in Mumbai Airport, the MIAL claimed that the number of security check screenings, check-in counters, immigration counter has increased with the facility of self-check-in and bag drop facility to avoid long queues.
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