Mumbai airport handled record 1,003 flights on June 5

Mumbai: Setting a new national aviation record, the Mumbai international airport, among the busiest single-runway airports in the world, set a new record of handling 1,003 landings and take-offs on Tuesday, an official said here on Wednesday.

"On June 5, the Mumbai Airport has successfully handled 1,003 flights, breaking its own previous record of 988 flight movements in a single day. This is the highest traffic handled in a single day by any airport in India till date," said an official spokesperson of Mumbai International Airport Ltd, managed by the GVK International.

Considered an airport of operational excellence, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) falls in the league of the busiest single-runway airports in the world handling over a 1,000 flight arrivals and departures daily. Due to the spells of heavy premonsoon rains in the past few days, several flights were diverted to nearby airports but later redirected to Mumbai after the weather conditions improved, resulting in an increase in the flight movements, the spokesperson explained.

The CSMIA has two intersecting runways of which only one can be operated at a time. These two crossing runways - 09/27 (the main) and 14/32 (the secondary and shorter runway) - can handle an average of 48 arrivals and departures per hour, 35 flights per hour, respectively.

-IANS