Mumbai’s Chhatratapi Shivaji Airport last week broke a world record for most flight movements handled by an airport in a single day, with 969 take-offs and landings on Nov. 24.
All the more amazing, because the airport’s two runways cross and must be operated as one. Officially, it’s rated to handle 46 operations an hour, but often handles over 50, with as little as 65 seconds between. Airport officials point out that private flights and charters tend to push the rate up, and hope someday to handle 1000 operations in 24 hours.
India is one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets, fueled by a growing middle-class and falling fares. While Mumbai cleared the most operations in a day, New Delhi’s airport beat it out on number of passengers per year, 27.7 million to Mumbai’s 22.4 million.
Photo: Shabbir “Leo” Ali/Wikimedia
