The lockdown induced amid second wave of coronavirus has hit many small and large scale businesses and traders, however, it has come to light that the revenue of Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport has also been impacted and fallen by nearly 68 per cent.
Under “Break the Chain” campaign initiated by the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government, lockdown-like restrictions have been imposed since April 14 across the state. Due to this, there has been a decline in the number of flights and passengers travelling to and from the Mumbai airport.
In the pre-COVID era, Mumbai airport was known to one of the busiest and largest airport in the country. More than 900 flights were plying daily from the airport. But the coronavirus crisis rocked the daily flights.
During December-January this year, the cases had receded and the number of flights once again reached to 600. However, soon after a spike in the cases from March, the number of flights dropped again.
Besides, the cargo flights have not been affected as the government have added it in the list of essential services. An average of 387 tons of cargo is taken off daily. Cargo planes ply to and from 20 cities daily.
At present, Mumbai Airport is allowed to run 300 passenger flights per day. But, due to lack of demand, only 100 planes are plying daily.
Earlier, the airport used to carry 1.40 lakh passengers daily. This number has come down to 17,600.
Meanwhile, as the daily coronavirus cases have seen a downward trend in the last few days in Maharashtra, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Monday, May 31, revised the guidelines for domestic passengers arriving at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. It also mentioned that this new directive is effective immediately.
Also Read: Follow COVID-19 protocols or pay INR 1,000 fine at Mumbai airport
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