by Devesh Agarwal
From July 1, 2013, Wadia group promoted GoAir will be moving its operations at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, from Terminal 1B (the private airlines’ terminal) to Terminal 1A (Air India / Indian Airlines terminal). GoAir will occupy some of the space that has been vacated by the cessation of operations of Vijay Mallya promoted Kingfisher Airlines.
GoAir currently operates 360 movements per week from Mumbai. A dedicated aisle of check-in counters at terminal 1A shall now be available for GoAir passengers. The airline will be also moving its ticketing office to the new premise.
The traffic at Terminal 1B has congested for some time thanks to the diversion of passengers from the implosion of Kingfisher, and the growth of domestic passenger traffic at the commercial capital of India. It would have been better if one of the larger incumbents like IndiGo or SpiceJet would have shifted, when compared to a smaller operator like GoAir which operates about 360 weekly movements i.e. about 26 departures per day.
When queried, persons with knowledge of developments but who preferred to remain anonymous, told Bangalore Aviation that this move has been planned for a long time, and all airlines were given the offer to shift operations. Only GoAir opted for the shift. We can surmize, that GoAir faced the least disruption to their operations since they are a purely domestic airline at present, and the others would find it more convenient to remain in Terminal 1B which is closer to the international terminal T2.
What are your thoughts on this shift? Post a comment.
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