Mumbai airport handles over 18 lakh passengers through 24,036 flights between June, September

Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) handled over 18 lakh passengers, including international passengers under the Vande Bharat Mission and private charters, through 24,036 flights operated between June and September, the airport said on Friday.

Commercial air passenger services remained suspended between late-March and May 24. While domestic flights resumed from May 25, international operations continue to be grounded, owing to visa and travel restrictions put in place by various countries in the wake of the pandemic.

But, special international flights have been operating under the Vande Bharat Mission since May and under the bilateral 'air bubble' arrangements with selected countries since July.

In the June-September period, CSMIA witnessed a total of over 7,150 international air traffic movements (ATMs) with over 21 international airlines flying about 2,49,320 passengers to 26 destinations, the private airport operator said in a release.

During the same period, the airport registered over 16,886 ATMs in domestic operations with over 15,55,700 passengers flying to 53 destinations across the country through 10 domestic airlines, it said.

CSMIA has also observed a rising growth in both international and domestic air travel during this period, it said adding that the traffic to the Middle Eastern region accounted for 55 per cent of the total traffic.

This was closely followed by Europe, North America, Africa and Asia-Pacific with a share of 26 per cent, 11 per cent, 6 per cent, and 2 per cent, respectively.

National carrier Air India transported the highest number of passengers at 54,230 to North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region by operating over 420 flights during the period. It was followed by budget carrier IndiGo with 26,070 passengers through 330 flights to the Middle Eastern region, the Mumbai airport said in the release.