India’s most congested airport is taking it easy these days

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Mumbai was once the busiest airport in India. When Delhi airport grabbed that title, Mumbai became known as the most congested airport in the country. Mumbai later became the busiest single-runway airport in the world, overtaking London Gatwick in the number of movements per day and on certain days recorded over 1,000 air traffic movements (ATMs).

For long, Mumbai has been an indicator for air traffic in the country as airlines have often rejigged slots and ensured that they can launch more destinations and manage frequencies to what has been largely considered a profitable market due to the congestion.

The first hit came in April 2019, when Jet Airways suspended operations. While most airports in the country had IndiGo as a capacity leader, Mumbai still had Jet Airways dominate the domestic landscape, having more slots on offer than IndiGo! With Jet Airways down, IndiGo won the last fort, becoming the market leader in Mumbai as well.

With the low-cost carriers (LCCs) dominating Mumbai, the airport had more seats on offer than ever before at the same number of flights as before. Cut to COVID-19 months and the airport is as good as deserted going by what its capacity is.

Analysis of data based on the On-Time Performance report shows that the airport handled only 976 departures in June — the first full month since domestic operations re-started in the country. Maharashtra has been the most affected state in the country and Mumbai, in particular, has been the worst affected city.

The state government after initially refusing to grant permission to start flights from Mumbai, agreed for 25 departures in May which were to be distributed in proportion amongst airlines. The government allowed the number to increase to 50 departures from mid-June.

Who has flown the most?

As expected IndiGo has flown the maximum departures out of Mumbai, with 420 departures in June comprising 43% of all departures at Mumbai. This was followed by Spicejet, Go Air and Air India who flew 226, 120 and 93 departures respectively.

Go Air re-started flying on 1st June even when the government had allowed operations to resume on 25th May. The Mumbai based airline has since been cautious with its expansion and has operated limited flights. It has also grounded all its A320ceo aircraft and is operating only the A320neo - which are fuel-efficient.

While National carrier Air India has been involved in a monstrous effort of repatriating Indians from across the world - with capacity tied up on international sectors, the airline operated only 93 flights in June - an average of 3.1 departures per day.

Who has flown the least?

The least of the flights came from Star Air and TruJet - both of which operate Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) - UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) routes to Mumbai. Trujet operates from Nanded and Jalgaon while Star Air operates from Belgaum.

With cases increasing, pockets in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) like Thane and other cities in Maharashtra have reinforced lockdown and vague guidelines have clearly meant that while the Indian government has allowed 45% utilization of capacity, there clearly isn’t as much demand for airlines to ask for additional flights at Mumbai!

What next?

Airlines have been trying multiple ways to shore up revenues and this includes ancillary services like allowing a passenger to book adjacent seats to feel safer, as announced by Vistara. However, this has not helped increase the demand for travel.

The fear of getting infected, frequent changes in regulations, quarantine requirements coupled with states stopping flights from certain cities has meant that airlines are having a tough time deciding the network as well as publishing schedules.

Without stable operations and reduction in the number of cases, even airports like Mumbai - which once struggled to handle the crowds are now empty. The airport currently operates only one terminal with most of its apron space utilized to park aircraft. This also has a negative impact on the revenue of the airport.

As days progress, the only hope to see flights back at the most congested airport in the country is to see a decline in infection rate, an increase in the recovery rate and a possible vaccine which will help business confidence return and start business and leisure travel. Until then, Mumbai will operate at a fraction of what it once operated not so long ago.

Ameya Joshi runs the aviation analysis website Network Thoughts