Mumbai airport still country's busiest

Mumbai: Just when one thought that the Delhi airport had flown ahead of Mumbai to snatch the numero uno position as the busiest airport in India,
comes the clincher. The tell-all statistics on air traffic, passenger traffic and cargo handling collected over the last five months clearly show that the commercial capital still enjoys the top slot among country’s airports.
While the rising aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices did have an adverse impact on the city airport’s domestic traffic, it was the increasing international flights which saved it from being relegated to the number two position. "Mumbai is definitely more prominent than Delhi as an international destination,’’ says a Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd spokesperson.
Last month, media reports had indicated that flight cuts to Mumbai airport had placed Delhi ahead of it when it came to air and passenger traffic. It said in the period between April to July 2008, Mumbai recorded an average of 650 flight movements a day, while Delhi had 680. It was a mighty fall for Mumbai airport, as in the same period last year, it had handled 720 flight movements per day.
So when did the city airport actually recover? "In fact, Mumbai had not really lost its position to Delhi in the real sense. The figures on flight movements quoted in reports was just the daily average. The real picture came in the final calculations,’’ the official said.
30/09/08 Manju V/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Sep 2008