27 May,2020 07:18 AM IST | Mumbai | Gaurav Sarkar
Passengers at Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Andheri, on Tuesday. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar
As Mumbai continues to be under a firm grip of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the airport authorities on Tuesday stayed vigilant and operated a limited number of flights in and out of the city a day after resuming domestic services. Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) in a statement stated that on Day 2, 44 flights, including 22 departures and 22 arrivals, operated from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. The state had allowed 25 departures and 25 arrivals daily. The airport authorities had earlier cancelled three flights, but they operated later in the day.
The number of passengers at the airport also saw a slight drop, as compared to Day 1. Six airlines catered to 4,224 passengers, including 3,114 at departures and 1,110 at arrivals, on 13 sectors. On Monday, 4,852 passengers were flown in and out of the city on 47 flights. The Mumbai-Delhi route saw the highest passenger load on Tuesday. The first flight departed to Ranchi at 6.30 am and the first flight arrived at 8.20 am from Lucknow. Both were operated by IndiGo airlines.
An MIAL spokesperson said, "Earlier, the last flight would arrive/leave late at night, but post-lockdown, most arrivals and departures are completed by 8-9 pm." However, the last flight took off from the airport at 9.30 pm on Tuesday, he added.
On cancellations, the spokesperson said that the initial plan was to resume one-third of the summer schedule post-lockdown - i.e. over 100 flights each way. However, following the tug of war between the Centre and the state government, the numbers were brought down to 25 each way, causing rescheduling, which briefly affected some of the passengers.
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MIAL said that all passengers entering the city will have to undergo home isolation for 14 days, as per the directive by of the state government.
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