Mumbai airport handles 260,000 passengers over weekend, most since May 2020

Mumbai airport handled over 130,000 passengers each on Saturday and Sunday – its highest single-day traffic since the reopening of air travel in May 2020.

The Sunday rush included 98,000 domestic and 32,000 international passengers.

Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) said in a press statement that increased connectivity – launch of new destinations and rise in the number of flights – contributed to the traffic growth.

Go First, IndiGo and Vistara accounted for the highest number of domestic passengers, while Air India, Emirates and IndiGo were top airlines on the international routes, it said.

Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai were the top three domestic destinations, while Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Singapore took the top three positions for highest international traffic.

On May 21, the airport had handled 123,442 passengers, MIAL had said in a release in July.

Air travel is on an upward trend on a nationwide basis over the last few months. Airlines flew 37 per cent more flights and carried 50 per cent more passengers on domestic routes last month compared to August 2021.

On the international side, too, airlines have added flights to India with scheduled flights resuming from March-end. The easing of pandemic restrictions globally, too, has boosted travel, resulting in new services from Mumbai to Poland, Finland and Vietnam, among other countries.

Between January and June, Mumbai airport handled nearly 17 million passengers, a growth of 132 per cent over the same period last year. This included 13.36 million domestic and 3.48 million international passengers.

Skies get busy again

Domestic

• Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai were top three destinations
• Go First, IndiGo, Vistara made for highest number of passengers

International

• Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore were top three destinations
• Air India, Emirates, IndiGo were busiest airlines on international routes