Now fly non-stop to Paris, Beijing and Frankfurt

Mumbai, October 30, 2016: Travelers from Mumbai can now fly non-stop to Paris, Beijing and Frankfurt as Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport announced the commencement of flight operations of international airlines – Lufthansa, Air France and Air China from Terminal 2 today. While Air France and Air China will be flying the Boeing 777-200 to Paris and Air Bus 330-300 to Beijing respectively, Lufthansa will be operating code ‘F’ Boeing 747-800 on the Mumbai Frankfurt route.

With the German flag carrier, Lufthansa airline’s announcement to operate the world’s biggest passenger aircraft, CSIA will become the only airport in India to handle four Code – F flights, the largest civilian aircraft, in a single day. Currently, the airport handles three Airbus 380 aircrafts operated by Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines.

Lufthansa and Air France, operating daily flights from Mumbai, will together have the capacity of carrying more than 600 passengers on a single trip. Air China, on the other hand, with a capacity of close to 300 passengers, will operate a non-stop flight to Beijing on alternate days.

In addition to this, foreign air carriers Brussels Airlines and Air Canada have also announced plans to launch flight operations from CSIA early next year while RwandAir and Garuda Indonesia Airlines are exploring flight options to Mumbai.

Keeping in mind the enormous thrust in passenger movement internationally, CSIA, one of the busiest airports in the world, is encouraging airlines to launch operations on new foreign routes and operate wide bodied aircrafts in order to cater to the business and leisure travel demand in the coming months. CSIA handles over 11 million international passengers in a year and close to 40 international airlines operate from the Terminal 2, connecting Mumbai to various international destinations. The airport offers state-of-the-art technology and infrastructure allowing airlines to operate wide-bodied aircrafts in order to support the burgeoning number of travelers transiting through the city.

India’s International air traffic to take a gigantic leap

According to International Air Transport Association (IATA) which represents 85% of the global airline traffic, India will be among the five fastest-growing markets, after China and the US, in terms of additional passengers per year over the forecast period with 322 million new passengers among the total of 442 million flyers during the period (2035)
Globally, the demand for air travel will nearly double to 7.2 billion passengers from 3.8 billion air travelers in the next two decades at an annual compound average growth rate (CAGR) of 3.7%

About GVK MIAL

GVK Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd (MIAL) is a Public Private Partnership joint venture between a GVK-led consortium and the Airports Authority of India (AAI). GVK MIAL was awarded the mandate for operating and modernizing Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai (CSIA). Through this transformational initiative, GVK MIAL aims to make CSIA one of the world’s best airports, which consistently delights customers besides being the pride of Mumbai. The new integrated Terminal 2 at CSIA enhances the airport’s capacity to service 40 million passengers and one million tons of cargo annually.