Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) managed by GVK Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) announced that the passenger traffic to London from Mumbai is all set to see a 27 per cent boost in fiscal year 2020.
This is mainly due to the re-introduction of Virgin Atlantic’s service, which stopped flying to Mumbai from London in January 2016. The airline resumed its non-stop daily flight services on the route, starting October 27, 2019. This new service will be available to passengers seven days a week.
Virgin Atlantic operated its first flight, a Boeing 787-900 arrived in the city from London Heathrow Mumbai on October 28, 2019 at 0055 and departed CSMIA at 0300, respectively.
The airline tweeted:
As per a Mumbai Airport release, “In FY18-19, over 5.50 lakh passengers travelled between Mumbai-London-Mumbai route. As one of the most popular destinations for Mumbaikars travelling from CSMIA, the airport also sees passengers from smaller cities like Goa, Ahmedabad, Rajkot travel to London in the heavy majority. The introduction of Virgin Atlantic’s new route to the destination will foster CSMIA to now cater to 33 flights between BOM-LHR thereby nurturing accessibility and increasing connectivity.”
Since FY18-19, the airport expanded its reach by introducing new airlines like Garuda Indonesia, Jazeera, Air Italy, RwandAir, Air Tanzania, Star Air, and Uzbekistan Airways. Similarly, connecting Mumbai to major destinations in the country and around the world, the airport in the last 12 months introduced new routes to destinations like Bali, Milan, Tashkent, Manchester, Phuket, Guangzhou, Male, and Dar Es Salam, amongst others. Maximising passenger delight, MIAL also started operations and introduced various aircraft types like Air Mauritius’s new A330 Neo and A350 along with Singapore Airline’s new and refurbished A380R with premium first-class suites, among others.
Meanwhile, the Mumbai International Airport also inaugurated the launch of Air India’s flights to Kuwait and to Colombo on October 27, 2019.
