Mumbai airport's domestic passenger terminal T1 to reopen from Oct 20

The city's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) on Monday announced the reopening of its domestic passenger terminal T1 from the midnight of October 20.

GoFirst, AirAsia India, Star Air and TruJet will resume all their domestic operations from Terminal 1 from October 20 midnight, the private airport operator said in a release.

However, IndiGo's select flights will resume from October 31 with most of its flights operating from T2 and base flights will operate out of Terminal 1, it added.

The Mumbai airport authorities had suspended flight services from T1 in mid-April after the deadly second wave of the pandemic hit the country and moved all operations to T2, which is largely used for international connectivity.

With the nationwide vaccination drive and increase in passenger confidence in air travel, the CSMIA is re-opening its Terminal 1 for domestic flight operations, starting October 20, the private airport operator said in a statement.

Terminal 1 will cater to approximately 156 flights daily, while approximately 396 flights will be operated from Terminal 2, it said.

During the first wave of the pandemic also, services from T1 remained suspended for nearly seven months. At that time too, all operations were being conducted from T2.

The resumption of services via T1 from October 20 will help maintain social distancing measures, uphold passenger safety, and ensure a seamless transit, the CSMIA said in the statement.

It also said that all modes of transport to and from the airport will be made available for the convenience of the passengers, as before.

CSMIA's T1 will host 12 registration desks and 12 testing booths across arrivals and departures where passengers can opt to undergo the RT-PCR test at the airport, the statement said.