Mumbai: Mumbaikars and outsiders alike said hello to the sparkling Rs 5,200-crore T2 international terminal on Wednesday. Air India's flight from Singapore via Chennai was the first to arrive—albeit 15 minutes late. The first departure, a Jet Airways flight to London, was on time.
Even as MIAL handed out sweets to passengers, a small drama played out on the sidelines. True to convention, the government-owned Air India's Singapore-Mumbai flight was given bragging rights for being the first to use the arrivals facility. But as the flight failed to reach Mumbai at its scheduled time of 1pm, there was talk of an Emirates flight from Dubai touching down first. Incidentally, the Dubai-based carrier operates the largest number of international flights out of India.
Eventually, the AI flight landed first. But Emirates, too, laid claim to being first (and also informed its flyers, as did AI). The logic appeared simple—the AI flight was technically a domestic one since it had come to Mumbai after a halt in Chennai. By extension, its A330 was largely filled with domestic passengers. In contrast, most of the international passengers who used the new T2's immigration and customs facilities were those who had flown Emirates. But passengers were not complaining as they chomped on local delicacies like bhakarwadi, coconut barfi, mahim halwa and chiwda. Kids and toddlers who boarded flights from T2 between Wednesday and the early hours of Thursday were gifted toys and chocolates.
13/02/14 Times of India
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Even as MIAL handed out sweets to passengers, a small drama played out on the sidelines. True to convention, the government-owned Air India's Singapore-Mumbai flight was given bragging rights for being the first to use the arrivals facility. But as the flight failed to reach Mumbai at its scheduled time of 1pm, there was talk of an Emirates flight from Dubai touching down first. Incidentally, the Dubai-based carrier operates the largest number of international flights out of India.
Eventually, the AI flight landed first. But Emirates, too, laid claim to being first (and also informed its flyers, as did AI). The logic appeared simple—the AI flight was technically a domestic one since it had come to Mumbai after a halt in Chennai. By extension, its A330 was largely filled with domestic passengers. In contrast, most of the international passengers who used the new T2's immigration and customs facilities were those who had flown Emirates. But passengers were not complaining as they chomped on local delicacies like bhakarwadi, coconut barfi, mahim halwa and chiwda. Kids and toddlers who boarded flights from T2 between Wednesday and the early hours of Thursday were gifted toys and chocolates.
13/02/14 Times of India
