Aviation consultant Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) has recognised the new Mumbai Airport as its Asia Pacific Airport of the Year for being the biggest and most strategic airport in Asia. The aviation advisory has also considered this airport as the leader, which has done the most to advance the progress of the aviation industry in this region.
This airport was selected for the award for its innovative development of Terminal- 2 (T2), which has enabled Mumbai to emerge as one of the leading airports in Asia.
CAPA’s aviation awards for excellence are intended to reward airlines and airports that are not only successful but have also provided industry leadership in an always changing environment. The award was accepted by Mumbai Airport CEO Rajeev Jain from CAPA executive director Peter Harbison on Tuesday (24 November).
“The construction of T2 was an incredibly complex infrastructure project which required a massive new terminal to be constructed on a very constrained land bank on the site of an existing busy and fast growing airport," said Harbison.
Despite these challenges, the operator has successfully delivered an iconic terminal that is architecturally and aesthetically spectacular and which has transformed the passenger experience,” he added.
CAPA also noted in a Tuesday statement that airlines have benefited from Mumbai airport's very committed focus on improving airside efficiency.
Over the last five years Mumbai Airport has managed to increase runway capacity from just over 30 movements per hour, to 45 movements per hour, peaking at just over 51. That places the airport amongst the best in class globally for a single runway operation. The innovative approach to runway management has created new slots and improved on-time performance. CAPA said.
Mumbai airport was modernised over the last several years by a consortium led by GVK Group. The modernised Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport is currently the second busiest airport in the country in terms of passenger traffic and international traffic after Delhi and was ranked 47 amongst the world's busiest airports in 2014 according to Airports Council International. The Mumbai airport, which has five operating terminals spread over an operational area of 750 hectares (1,850 acres), handles at least 780 aircraft movements per day.
According to CAPA, modernising and expanding an airport in the heart of a city provided a mammoth challenge but the project was completed at one of the lowest unit costs among all recent airport projects.
The design for T2 had also set a new benchmark in the industry as it conceptualise for the first time a four-level vertically integrated design. The new airport's first stage of the domestic pier was opened in early 2015. This had also enabled passengers to connect between domestic and international services under one roof, in place of the very inefficient and lengthy process of transferring between the distant domestic and international terminals. This should further enhance Mumbai's hub potential, according to CAPA.
BW Reporters
Unnikrishnan is currently Senior Associate Editor with BW Businessworld at its Mumbai Bureau. During his two decades long journalistic career, he has received several media awards and recognitions. His articles on healthcare, life sciences and intellectual property rights (IPR) have been republished by several international blogs and journals.
_20240527192124_original_image_21.webp)
