Terminal 1 of Mumbai Airport reopens for the public today
Festive load causes preponement of T-1 opening
In a statement released by AAHL on October 4, the terminal shift was initially scheduled for October 20. However, with the increasing festive traffic T-2, the date has been moved up by a week. The decision particularly came in view of the chaos the rung at the international terminal on October 8, when several services were delayed due to traffic. Many passengers also missed their flights, added reports.
The CSMIA has resumed domestic operations from T-1 w.e.f October 13 instead of October 20-mid night, airport operators said in a statement. As per reports, private airport operator, Adani Airports Holding Ltd. (AAHL) has informed the Central Industrial Security Force (CSIF) and other stakeholders about the early terminal change.
According to the new schedule, all GoFirst domestic flights will resume from T-1 today onwards. Other flight operators such as AirAsia India, Star Air and TruJet will also take off from the domestic runway. As suggested by the earlier statement, certain services of these airlines may function from the international terminal for some time, before completely operating from T-1.
Staggering traffic for lesser delays
The airport authorities have made several arrangements to follow COVID-19 protocols as per prescribed safety precautions. Besides other security measures, express 30-minute RT-PCR test centres have also been set up here for the benefit of the passengers.
Mumbai Airport was shut in mid-April with the advent of the second wave of the pandemic. All traffic was then diverted to Terminal-2 to support unhindered connectivity to domestic passengers. The reopening of Terminal 1 will help segregate and stagger traffic, easing end-to-end connectivity at the Mumbai airbase. The process will also streamline the flow of passenger load and flights, causing lesser traffic at the runway and thus, lesser delays.
