The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) directed the Airport Operator, Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) to address the issue of airspace congestion to mitigate congestion by restricting the movements of non-scheduled flights (General Aviation) during the identified peak hours (0800-1100 IST, 1700-2000 and 2115-2315 IST).
An analysis conducted by AAI pointed to excessive slot allocation and poor slot adherence as a major contributor to the traffic congestion witnessed. On 15 February, after reviewing the existing situation, the Ministry directed the Airport Operator, in addition to earlier measures, to reduce their flight operations from 46 to 44 per hour during HIRO period and from 44 to 42 aircraft movement per hour during remaining period with provision of 02 slots for General Aviation aircraft. Airport Operator in coordination with airlines has implemented the directions effective since 20 Feb’24. All the domestic airline operators were also advised to strictly adhere to the slots allocated by MIAL to avoid air congestion.
From 14476 arrivals for the period from 11 Nov to 10 Dec, 2023 to 4337 arrivals for the period from 16 Feb to 24 Feb 2024, there has been a marked decongestion, which is a positive sign.
