Mumbai, Jan 23 (IANS): Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) recorded a steep 35 percent growth in passenger traffic in 2023 over the previous year, officials said here on Tuesday.
Last year, the CSMIA notched a total of 51.58 million passengers, comprising more than 25.4 million arrivals and over 26.1 million departures from here.
Simultaneously, it catered to a stupendous 334,391 air traffic movements - a 20 per cent increase compared with 277,052 recorded in 2022 - comprising both domestic and international flights.
In 2023, the highest passenger traffic movement for a single day in a month was seen on November 25 with 167,132 passengers travelling through the airport, including 120,000 domestic and over 46,000 international fliers.
On November 11, the CSMIA achieved its highest-ever single-day ATM with a total of 1,032 flights.
The next month, December, 4.89 million passengers passed through the CSMIA, a growth of 13 per cent compared with 4.34 million fliers in December 2022.
Overall in 2023, the CSMIA said it achieved a 110 per cent recovery in passenger traffic compared to the pre-pandemic era.
Last year, New Delhi, Bengaluru, and Chennai remained the top domestic destinations while Dubai, London and Abu Dhabi were the most preferred international destinations for air travellers.
Among the airlines, IndiGo, Vistara, and Air India led the domestic market share and the international front was dominated by IndiGo, Air India, and Emirates.
In 2023, CSMIA expanded its international connectivity to destinations like New York, Lagos, Jakarta, Entebbe, Melbourne and frequency additions to destinations such as Bangkok, Frankfurt, London, Doha, Mauritius and many more along with Azerbaijan Airlines (Baku) and Air Canada (Toronto).
The Middle East dominated with a strong 35 per cent share, followed closely by Australasia at 23 per cent, Europe at 19 per cent, North America 15 per cent, and Africa contributed 8 per cent.
Last year, the CSMIA also took major initiatives like successfully concluding its re-carpeting project for Runway 14/32 to enhance operations; introducing 'Taxiway Z' to slash the entry-exit time taken by aircraft and lowering carbon emissions; commissioning a specialized Disabled Aircraft Recovery Kit (DARK), the first airport in Asia to possess this facility with High-Pressure lifting bags; and introducing an advanced Parking Guidance System at Terminal 2.