However, some say baggage claim process tests one’s patience, getting to terminal could be challenging
Various scenes that unfolded after operations commenced at Navi Mumbai International Airport on Thursday. PICS/SAYYED SAMEER ABEDI
The skies above Panvel creek were dotted with aircraft as operations commenced at Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) on Thursday. The airport handled 48 flights connecting nine domestic destinations and serving over 4000 passengers, on its first day of operations, with no delays or diversions, with its maiden arrival being IndiGo’s flight 6E460 from Bengaluru at 8 am. Another IndiGo flight, 6E882, to Hyderabad, was the first to take off from the facility at 8.40 am.
First impressions
The experience of passengers was mostly positive. A wheelchair-bound flier, Lakshmi Manikantan, one of the 160 passengers who flew in from Bengaluru on the first commercial flight to land at NMIA, told mid-day, “It was a great experience for me; in fact, this was the first time I travelled by air. There were proper facilities for those with disabilities. I did not feel any inconvenience during the flight.”
Other passengers, however, did face a few hurdles. “I waited for over half an hour to get my luggage after reaching the baggage claim belt. Many co-passengers claimed their bags had been tampered with,” said Farha Siddiqui, a Delhi resident.
One individual visited the airport out of pure passion for aviation. “It’s been a great Christmas,” said Matunga East resident Dinesh Gandhi, “I am here just to admire the airport.” Gandhi, who was accompanied by his wife, Rita, and sister-in-law. Rita said, “I visit airports with him whenever I can.” Speaking about signage along the route to the airport, Gandhi said, “Better-placed boards would help passengers a great deal.”
Maze game
Passengers, while excited about using India’s largest greenfield airport, are facing difficulties finding the correct road to the terminal building. The turn under the clover bridge allows one to access the straight road that takes one to the terminal, but this route is also accessible only if one is in a private or hired car. “I took an auto to the new airport, but security personnel told me the vehicle couldn’t proceed beyond a certain point, and I had to book a cab to get to the terminal. Luckily, I had left home early; otherwise, I would have been stuck,” said a passenger who was bound for Goa.
This reporter also met a passenger facing the same issue, who was told by the security that if one had to walk to the airport from an auto stand, the distance would work out to 11 km. Fortunately, bus services between NMIA and numerous railway stations in Navi Mumbai are cheap, comfortable, and frequent. A bus journey from NMIA to the Belapur CBD railway station costs around R20 per person.
ISSUES FACED APART FROM POOR NETWORK
>> Delays in baggage claim process
>> Difficulty getting to the airport by transport modes other than cabs
>> Water leak in a toilet inside the terminal
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