Mumbai breaks 2018 air traffic record

Mumbai airport, which handles all flights on a single runway, broke its single-day air traffic record on November 11, during the Diwali weekend, when it handled 1,032 flights in 24 hours. The previous record, of 1,004 arrivals and departures, was set on December 9, 2018.

The old record

• Mumbai airport’s single-day flight movements crossed the 1,000 mark for the first time on June 5, 2018.

• But air traffic fell thereafter with Mumbai-based Jet Airways suspending operations in April 2019 and the Covid lockdown in 2020.

November gain

• This is the first time since 2018 that air traffic has crossed four digits at Mumbai airport Passenger traffic too was a record in November.

High-flying

• 18,580 passengers per day flew in November on India’s busiest domestic route, Mumbai-Delhi.

• 557,393 passengers in all flew that month 5L handled.

• 1.7L passengers handled on Nov 25, a Saturday, the airport’s highestever single-day passenger traffic (approximate figure.

• 5L handled during the Diwali weekend, November 11-13.

Top destinations

• Delhi, Bangalore, and Chennai retained their positions as the top domestic destinations out of Mumbai airport.

• Dubai, London, and Abu Dhabi continued to be the preferred international destinations.