Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport

The erstwhile Royal Air Force Santacruz, a military airfield, commenced its operations in 1942. The airfield was transferred to the Indian Government for civil use upon independence and came to be known as Santacruz airport. The hangars of Royal Air Force Santacruz were converted into terminals for passenger traffic, one hangar was used as a domestic terminal and the other as an international terminal. As time went and the passenger traffic increased, so did the need for the systematic development of the airport.

With the dawning of the Jumbo Jet era in 1970s, the Santacruz airport, despite several extensions, began suffering from insufficient operational capacity. The International Airports Authority of India then planned the construction of a new terminal building to demarcate domestic and international passenger traffic and thus, the new international terminal at Sahar in Andheri saw the light of the day. In 1999, the airport was rechristened to Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA).

Mumbai Airport has reached a new height on a journey full of commendable milestones. Its completion of 75 years of public service is a moment of pride and an occasion to reflect the growth it has witnessed over the last seven and a half decades. CSIA during this period witnessed an enormous growth in passenger movements, which necessitated the establishment of a state-of-the-art infrastructure.

In 2006, as an initiative under Public-Private-Partnership, the operations of the airport were entrusted to the Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd. (MIAL), a joint venture between the GVK led consortium and the Airports Authority of India. In addition to refurbishing the existing terminals and improving airside infrastructure, MIAL made significant improvements to the aesthetics and passenger convenience with the creation of the state-of-the-art Terminal 2, setting new benchmark in service quality and efficiency.

Mumbai Airport is catering to over 45 million passengers annually, connecting Mumbai to over 99 domestic and international destinations. Compared to 22 million annual passengers and average daily 584 flight movements in FY 2007, in FY 2017, annual passengers handled were 46 million and average daily flight movements were 867. CSIA is the only airport in the world having handled 935 flight movements on a single runway on a given day.

To provide travelers a glimpse of the rich Indian heritage and culture, T2 houses a magnificent art program named “Jaya He” which is India’s largest art program for public display. It was conceived as an initiation to make passengers aware of the environment of the airport, the city of Mumbai and India as a whole. Reflecting the many layered story of India, “Jaya He” evolved into an immense multidisciplinary endeavour, like a new museum. That art museum is home to over 7000 art pieces made by various artisans from the different regions of the country.

CSIA is one amongst the three airports in the world, to be inducted into the Airport Council International (ACI) Director General’s Roll of Excellence in 2015, for consistently being ranked amongst the top five airport in its category by ACI under the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) program for five years (2009 to 2014).

CSIA was rated as the ‘World’s Best Airport’ in the 25 – 40 million passengers per annum category by ACI in the Airport Service Quality Award 2015. It was also recognized at the Skytrax Awards 2017 for ‘Best Airport Staff Service’, showcasing its superlative service and passenger experience. Recently, CSIA has been adjudged as the ‘World’s Second Best Airport’ in over 40 million passengers per annum category by ACI.