Upgraded Mumbai airport terminal becomes operational

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) today opened the first phase of the upgraded domestic terminal IB of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport for use from today.

Mumbai's domestic airport, built in 1958 by a French architect in the form of a ship, has been re-designed to accommodate the growing air traffic.

Sudhir Kumar, director AAI said: " This is AAI's solution to the growing demand for air traffic in the country and is in conjunction with the infrastructure initiative from the civil aviation ministry."

The first phase of the project cost is Rs 35 crore and the total project cost, including the phase II, is pegged at around Rs 83 crore.

Terminal IB caters to almost 7 million passenger movement and over 500 air traffic movements. Kumar said the upgraded terminal had been built on an area of 1575 square meter with 38 check-in counters and a security hold of 1651 square meter.

He said this upgraded terminal was an interim solution. If the growth of the air traffic was at the current level of 25 per cent annually, Mumbai airport would be able to handle the traffic for the next three years, he added.

AAI officials said the Phase II of the modification will begin in due course and will be based on a similar pattern.

Architect Hafeez Contractor along with Unity Infraprojects have incorporated many state-of-the-art features for the construction of the building.

These include using a kalzip roofing for the first time, a 23 meter wide pillar less check-in area and the an aluminium composite panel and a glazed facade look for the building.

The building has also been made energy efficient and environmental friendly with a sky light that will not require the use of artificial light during the day.

Besides the building, the domestic terminal also has an expanded car park for 200 cars. All operations of Jet Airways, Air Sahara, Spice Jet and Air Deccan have moved into the upgraded building.