Mumbai Airport passenger traffic crosses pre-Covid levels in Feb

Mumbai: As passenger traffic breached the 4-million mark in February, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has crossed the pre-Covid levels when it had notched 3.9 million travellers in February 2020, an official said on Tuesday.

This marks a 2% growth in this year’s February over February 2020, just before the Covid-19 pandemic was declared in March 2020.

“The CSMIA has surpassed the pre-Covid level passenger mark, implying a robust demand for air travel through Mumbai to national and international sectors. The growth is led by increasing demand for domestic leisure and other segments of travel in the country,” said the official.

The CSMIA started 2023 on an upbeat note catering to 4.5 million passengers in January, followed by 4 million passengers on 24,292 flights, which was 57% higher compared with the February 2022 flight movements handled here.

Of the overall passenger movement, CSMIA recorded 75% domestic traffic and the rest 25% shared by international travellers.

On February 12, the domestic air passenger traffic touched 437,800 passengers on 2,935 flights departing India on a single day across India, as per the Civil Aviation Ministry data.

Dubai, London and Abu Dhabi remain the stop spots as three international destinations with the highest passenger traffic through Mumbai, while New Delhi, Bengaluru and Goa retain their spots as the top three preferred domestic destinations.

CSMIA is the gateway to 65 domestic and 47 international destinations for passengers from Mumbai.