Archives for 8 Oct,2018

Mumbai is famous for many things, the Gateway Of India, the Elephanta Island, the Marine Drive and of course Bollywood.

But, amongst all these things, there is one which stands out and is the first thing that most tourists and foreigners visit, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport(CSMIA)!

Mumbai airport has been the second home to most frequent flyers in India and has made air travel easy for passengers passing through the city.

With its efficiency and infrastructure quality, CSMIA has become one of the best airports in India and a recognised name globally.

Yet, many of us are unaware of the years of dedication and planning that has gone in making this modern marvel.

So, let’s take a look at this airport’s journey and what it has achieved over the years.

History

‘Juhu Aerodrome’ was India’s and Bombay’s (now called Mumbai) first airport which was built in 1932. It was used by mail delivery airplanes and was located less than 2 Km from the actual site of CSMIA.

In 1940, authorities decided to find an alternative site and a spot was chosen at Santa Cruz where Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport was born.

Used by the military during World War ll by the British Royal Air Force, Mumbai Airport was managed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation after Independence and in 1958, a new terminal was opened.

In 1972, the operation of Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (BOM) was taken over by the International Airports Authority of India and expansion plans were soon implemented over the next three decades.

By the turn of the new millennium, the airport had grown to become one of the busiest airports in India and the world.

Awards & Recognition

Mumbai airport has transformed into a world-class airport over the years. For its efforts to modernize and upgrade the airport to meet world standards, CSMIA has won many national and international accolades. Here are a few honourable mentions:

1. It won the ‘Best Airport In India’ Award by Air Passengers Association of India in 2007 & 2008
2. It was the first international airport to win the prestigious ‘Airport of the Year’ Award by Frost & Sullivan Aeronautical Excellence in 2008
3. It won the “Autodesk Hong Kong Building Information Modelling (BIM) Award” for its unique Air Traffic Control tower in 2009
4. It also won the ‘Best Managed Airport’ award from CNBC AWAAZ in 2009 & 2014
5. It bagged the prestigious Golden Peacock National Quality Award 2012.
6. It received “Gold rating” in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) from the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) for energy efficient, eco-friendly and sustainable terminal building design.
7. It received the Forbes India Art Award under the “Corporate Commitment to Art” category in 2014 for its unique and beautiful airport museum “Jaya He”
8. It bagged the prestigious ‘Golden Peacock Innovative Product/Service Award’ in 2014 for its ‘Pranaam GVK Guest Services’.
9. CSMIA’s Terminal 2 has been awarded the “Platinum Design Award” in 2015 for Architecture, Building and Structural Design.
10. It has been awarded the prestigious ‘National Tourism Award 2014-15’ under the category of Best Airports in Class X (metro) Cities.
11. It was rated as the best airport in the 25-40 million passengers per year category by ACI in the Airport Service Quality Awards 2015.
12. It has been voted as the ‘Best Airport in India and Central Asia’ by Skytrax World Airport Awards in 2016 & 2018.
13. It has been awarded as “Best Metro Airport 2015-16” by Air Passenger Association of India.
14. It has been in the Top 10  ‘Best Airport Terminals’ and was awarded the ‘Best Airport Staff’ award in India & Central Asia at the Skytrax Awards in 2017.
15. It received World’s Best Airport at the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards 2017.

Interesting Facts About Mumbai Airport

• Majority of the people won’t know this but, Mumbai Airport is also known as the Sahar International Airport.
• The airport is the 2nd busiest airport in the country on the basis of a total number of international passenger traffic.
• Mumbai Airport is the primary hub for many airlines. This includes airlines like Air India, SpiceJet, Jet Airways, GoAir, Blue Dart Aviation, JetConnect, and IndiGo
• The airport is named after the 17th-century Maratha Emperor, Chhatrapati Shivaji
• You will find 4 levels in total at Terminal 2 of the airport. It includes the first level as the ground transport, Level 2 for arrivals, Level 3 for domestic departures, and Level 4 for international departures
• Mumbai Airport’s art museum ‘Jaya He’ is the largest art project in the world which consists of more than 6,000 artworks in total
• The Terminal 2 area of the airport supports more than 2300 CCTV camera and over 70,000 detection devices for fire. The airport also has a multi-level car park which can support more than 5,000 vehicles
• It is one of the best airports for shopping. The retail space in the airport is about 21,000 sq. Meters, which has many national and international branded stores in it
• The airport has achieved a lot in the field of environmental sustainability. In fact, it was the 1^st Indian and 2^nd Asian airport to be accredited with the prestigious ISO 14064 certification for Carbon Emissions Accounting

If you want to know about things to do at the Mumbai Airport, look no further. Download the AirWhizz app and get information about different places to eat, shop & relax at CSMIA along with real-time flight updates the next time you fly.