In a move that is likely to cause quite some hassle to travellers, the Mumbai Airport is set to be shut for six hours on April 9 and 10.
The airport runway intersection of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport is in need to repair and maintenance work and authorities plan to complete it before monsoon sets in in the city.
Additionally, the airport will also see a six-hour shutdown on October 23 for maintenance.
Mumbai airport to be shut for six hours on 9th and 10th April for pre monsoon maintenance work on runway intersection. Airport will also be shut for six hours on October 23rd for maintenance on runway intersection
— ANI (@ANI) February 17, 2018
Due to the shutdown, several flights flying in or out of the Mumbai Airport may be rescheduled or even cancelled. Airlines are likely to get in touch with passengers and informing them about the timings and changes.
The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai is one of the busiest in India and on January 20, it broke its own record of handling the most number of flights in a day. On a single day, the Mumbai Airport handled 980 flights -- arrivals and departures -- beating its previous record of 974 flights.
In its annual report in 2017, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, based in Sydney had said that the Mumbai airport has reached 94 percent of its maximum passenger handling capacity. The report also estimated that the airport would reach its saturation in 2018.
"Mumbai airport functions in a space-starved, infrastructure-constrained environment, unlike any other. More flights can't be added onto Mumbai's single runway without a holistic approach that takes into account the ground realities, India's regulatory framework, human factors etc," Business Today quoted a senior air traffic controller as saying.
