CSMIA announces flight schedule for summer, 8 pc surge in weekly movements

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport CSMIA in Mumbai has announced its summer schedule for 2024 showcasing an 8 per cent surge in weekly flight movements compared to the previous yearEffective from March 31st 2024 until October 26th 2024 the enhanced schedule aims to cater to the escalating demand for both domestic and international travel benefiting travelers from Mumbai and nearby cities Meanwhile experts raise concerns about the already delayed flights at the CSMIA claiming that the surge in weekly flight schedule will increase load on the existing infrastructure and Air Traffic Controllers ATCThe summer schedule will witness an increase in services to international destinations including Paris Doha and Hanoi alongside the introduction of a new route to Tashkent This expanded connectivity is set to offer passengers improved travel options and greater convenience With travel gaining momentum in India CSMIA is poised to serve passengers with an enhanced flight schedule featuring 951 daily movements up from approximately 882 in the previous summer schedule of 2023 The airport will observe a notable hike of over 8 per cent in weekly flight operations in 2024 compared to 2023 with over 6657 movements weekly said a spokesperson from CSMIAThe summer schedule will also see an increase in flight frequencies to various destinations with notable rises in flights to Delhi Srinagar Ayodhya and Kolkata among others To cater to the rising demand CSMIA has crafted a schedule with 682 domestic and 269 international movements to various destinations including the newly introduced routes Vistara will operate five weekly flights to Paris Akasa Air will fly to Doha 4 times weekly and Uzbekistan Airways will connect to Tashkent twice a week Vistara will also operate daily flights to Hanoi the spokesperson addedHowever concerns have been raised regarding the potential strain on infrastructure and air traffic controlAt CSMIA a significant bottleneck is caused due to the absence of parallel taxiways The procedure of deploying planes for takeoff is slowed down when they congregate on a single taxiway from many terminals This causes ground traffic and potential delays On top of this if the schedule has an 837 increase the delays will be more as compared to previous delays The airport is currently struggling with delays as it is an airline staffer told middayCaptain Mohan Ranganathan an aviation expert highlighted additional factors contributing to delaysApart from infrastructure and automation issues inflated block times set by airlines and inadequate slot allocations have also played a role in the delays at the current schedule Inflated block times refer to the extra time added to a flights schedule by the airlines to account for potential delays but when consistently overestimated can contribute to unnecessary delays he saidIn preparation for the surge in passenger traffic CSMIA has implemented a range of infrastructural enhancements to ensure a seamless experience through the airport said another spokesperson from CSMIAAccording to the published schedule IndiGo will operate 1255 weekly departures Air India will have 539 and Vistara will have 519 However experts caution that unless addressed adequately the increased flight volume could exacerbate existing challenges and lead to further delays at CSMIAThe total number of daily flight departures is at 951 according to the schedule which is below the limit assigned by the Ministry of Civil Aviation MoCA There might be delays from the controllers but the airport is increasing the schedule within the MoCA limits said an industry stafferNumber of weekly departures according to new scheduleIndiGo 1255Air India 539Vistara 519Data source CSMIA