McDonald's opens first airport drive-thru outlet in Mumbai, to operate 24X7

Fast food chain McDonald's on Thursday opened an outlet in the city's international airport that it claimed is the country's first airport drive-thru restaurant.

The outlet, opened by McDonald's India (West & South), is located just 100 meters from Terminal 2 of the city's international airport.

This will also be the first McDonald's outlet in the city operating 24x7, the company said in a statement.

The airport outlet spans over 3,000 sqft, a McCafe, a dine-in area, and a takeaway counter.

There is also a dedicated drive-thru lane and a customer ordering display board for customers to seamlessly order and enjoy their meals on-the-go. It also has four self ordering kiosks to help customers save time.

With this addition, McDonald's now has three joints in T2.

Saurabh Kalra, the managing director of McDonald's India (W&S), said, the drive-thru outlet that combines convenience, speed, and quality, aims to make customers' journeys more enjoyable and stress-free.

He also said they are looking at expanding their presence in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, and also into more western and southern markets.

Kalra said going forward, McDonald's 35-40 per cent of new stores will be drive-thrus across major city suburbs and national highways over the next four-five years. Of the 361 restaurants across 58 cities it operates as of June 2023, as much as 69 are drive-thrus.

McDonald's India (West & South) is owned by Westlife Foodworld, formerly known as Westlife Development, and has been operated by its subsidiary Hardcastle Restaurants since its inception in 1996.

Its licence covers Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra, Telangana, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, and parts of Madhya Pradesh.