Interesting Things to know about Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport

Mumbai, the state capital of Maharashtra, is India’s most populous metropolis. The city is the nation’s commercial hub and is located on an island with a deep natural harbor. The city’s name was formally changed from Bombay to Mumbai in 1995, yet the previous term is still used to refer to the metropolis across the world.

When it comes to learning about your preferred airline or airport or getting even the best deals on flight tickets, people are eager to learn the little-known facts about it. When it comes to notable airports in India, Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport is the country’s second busiest. Its services are provided to the Mumbai Metropolitan Area in India. The airport, which is located across an operating area of 750 hectares, handles more than 850 aircraft movements every day.

Airports Council International named it, together with IGI Delhi, the “World’s Best Airport” at the Airport Service Quality Awards 2017 in the highest category of airports handling more than 40 million passengers per year. It also received the Skytrax 2016 World Airport Awards for “Best Airport in India and Central Asia.”

History till date

India’s first civil aviation airport was Mumbai-Juhu Airport which was founded in 1928. The history of Indian aviation began in 1932 with the establishment of the first airline, Tata Air Services. After gaining a contract with Imperial Airways, J.R.D Tata created the airline as an airmail carrier within India. In October 1932, the airline conducted its inaugural trip from Karachi to Mumbai.

The airport is named after the Great Shivaji Maharaj (1630-1680), a Maratha Empire Chhatrapati of the 17th century. It was renamed “Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport” in 1999, replacing the old “Sahar Airport” (the title “Maharaj” was added on 30 August 2018).

It is located in Vile Parle East, between the Santacruz and Sahar Village neighborhoods.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (IATA: BOM, ICAO: VABB) serves Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). In terms of total and international passenger traffic, it is the country’s second busiest airport after Delhi, and it was the 14th busiest airport in Asia and the 41st busiest airport in the world in the calendar year 2019. In 2018, it had around 49.8 million passengers searching for the best deals on flight tickets to Mumbai. It is also the second busiest airport in terms of freight traffic. In March 2017, the airport surpassed London’s Gatwick Airport to become the world’s busiest single-runway airport. This was eventually exceeded by Gatwick Airport at the end of 2019 when passenger counts at Mumbai fell. The airport’s IATA code, BOM, is related to the city’s old legal name, “Bombay.”

Acquisition of the Airport

The Adani Group bought both GVK and Bidvest’s holdings in MIAL in February 2021, giving it a controlling interest in the enterprise.

Adani Group now controls 74% of Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, with 50.5 percent acquired from GVK Group and 23.5 percent acquired from minority partners Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) and Bidvest Group. Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd, later announced in a statement that it has taken over management control of Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) from the GVK Group following the MIAL Board Meeting earlier in the day.

Structure

• Runways

The airport has two intersecting runways and handles 980 aircraft per day on average. The runways have been upgraded to Code F, allowing bigger aircraft such as the Airbus A380 to land. Following a presentation by UK air traffic service provider NATS on how to boost airport capacity in March 2011, MIAL established a target of 48 aircraft movements per hour to minimize airport congestion. To achieve this goal, both runways were operated concurrently, particularly during peak hours.

Terminals

Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport manages all international arrivals and departures. This terminal also serves as a departure point for local carriers such as Air India, Vistara, and Jet Airways. It has two terminals on a combined land area of 750 hectares (1,850 acres) and handles around 950 aircraft movements per day. For scheduled commercial passenger services, the airport has two terminals: Terminal 1 in Santacruz for domestic flights and Terminal 2 in Sahar for both international and domestic flights. While both terminals use the same airside amenities, they are geographically separated on the cityside and must be reached by a 15-20-minute (landside) journey. Passengers utilizing private and non-scheduled flight operations with domestic and international holiday packages are served by a designated General Aviation Terminal.

Terminals that are currently functioning:

• Terminal 1 (Domestic) Terminal 1, also known as Santacruz Airport, is largely utilized for domestic flights offered by online flight ticket booking to Mumbai services. This was the old Santacruz building, which was originally integrated but was renamed Terminal 1 following the inauguration of the Sahar building for international operations and became a domestic operations terminal. It has been renovated multiple times throughout the years, the most recent being in the 2000s. It was subdivided into Terminals 1A, 1B, and 1C following its permanent closure in the late 1990s and early 2000s. SpiceJet, GoAir, and IndiGo used it, however after Jet Airways collapsed on April 17, 2019, certain flights from all Terminal 1B airlines relocated to the newer T2 facility. The terminal contains 11 passenger boarding bridges. MIAL rebranded Terminal 1B to T1 in January 2017 to make it easier for passengers to recognize. Several airlines employ BEST-owned airconditioned Cerita buses to transport passengers between the terminal and the aircraft.
• Terminal 2 (International) To distinguish the new Terminal 2 building from the previous Terminal 2 building, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) was granted the contract to build it. The project’s architectural designer was Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). The total cost of the project was anticipated to be 98 billion (US$1.2 billion) with over 12,000 people. The four-story X-shaped terminal has a total floor space of 450,000 square meters and serves as the best airport for travelers coming for both domestic and international holiday packages. It comprises additional taxiways and apron spaces for aircraft parking, with a capacity of 40 million people per year.

Passenger Arrivals and Car Parking

The airport has a multi-level car park that can accommodate over 5,000 automobiles. T2 will mostly serve foreign traffic with a few domestic airlines scheduled to relocate operations there later. To alleviate airport traffic congestion, all vehicles arriving at T2 to pick up incoming passengers are directed via the Multi-Level Car Park and paid a fee. Four-wheelers pay a minimum of 140 (US$1.80) for 30 minutes of general parking, while two-wheelers pay 240 minutes.

Connectivity

Vile Parle is a railway station on the Mumbai Suburban Railway network’s Western and Harbour lines, adjacent to both T1 and T2 terminals.

• The nearest Mumbai Metro stations to Terminal T2 are Airport Road and Marol Naka on Line 1.
• Western Express Highway (WEH) is the station on Mumbai Metro Line 1 that is closest to Terminal T1.

The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) offers air-conditioned buses from the Andheri train station to the airport. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) operates bus services to and from the airport from several Navi Mumbai nodes.

Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport Passenger Services

Baggage: Both terminals include left luggage and lost and found services. Passengers with the best deals on flight tickets may also use TravelProtect’s baggage wrapping services at Terminal 2 – next to check-in desks F-gate 4, N-gate 6, B-gate 2, and J-gate 5. Refer to the Mumbai Airport map for a more precise understanding. Wrapping each bag would cost roughly 300INR.

Money and Communications: ATMs are located throughout the Mumbai Airport in both the domestic and international terminals. Currency exchange counters may be found at several places across the airport, including Centrum in Terminal 1 arrivals and Terminal 2 arrivals and departures, Akbar Travels in Domestic Transfers level 2, Level 4 passenger holding area and check-in, and SBI and VKC in Level 2 Arrivals.

This world-class airport has got all the international facilities a passenger or traveler wants at the airport like medical facilities, childcare facilities, conference & business centers/lounges, shopping facilities, food & drinks with Wi-fi connectivity.