Mumbai airport to be closed every Tuesday

Passengers frustrated:

It was announced today that Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) will undergo repair and reconstruction work on the runways and hence will be closed for six hours for the next 22 Tuesdays.

The repairs will be done at the intersection of the main runway and the alternative runway and will be carried out between 12 noon and 6 pm. As a result, passengers have become frustrated as Mumbai airport authorities have requested all airlines operating on the days to reschedule all incoming and outgoing flights. Back in 2003 the Mumbai airport was shut down for a long time, resulting in canceled flights. To avoid diversions to other airports like Pune or Ahmedabad, Airlines have been advised to follow the timings of all incoming and outgoing flights two hours before and after the (12-6 pm) closure timings.

Passengers are to note than every Tuesday Jet and Kingfisher airlines are the only two airlines which would operate between 12 and 6 pm and some of their flights have accordingly been rescheduled. A few domestic flights and two flights on the Mumbai-London and Mumbai-Singapore sectors have rescheduled. According to officials, smaller aircraft like ATRs, Boeing 737s, Airbus-319 and Airbus-320 will be able to take off and land since a part of the runway will be available for operations.

However, no large aircraft will be able to operate while the repairs are carried out and officials hope there is no case of emergency landing during those days. In case you're flying on a Tuesday you ought to check up on the revised timings or you might just miss your plane. Although airports authorities have promised that extra announcements will be made to inform passengers about the flight schedules and will provide any help that they need.