No special status for A-I, Indian at new city airport

Airlines like Indian and Air-India which currently enjoy special rights at Mumbai’s domestic and international airports, in the shape of separate terminals will not have these privileges in the new privately operated airport.

Mumbai International Airport (MIAP) is all about change and the city’s airport does not have the space for separate terminals for the airlines, MIAP managing director GV Sanjay Reddy said. Indian currently operates from terminal 1A at Mumbai’s domestic airport, while other carriers including Jet Airways have to operate from the older terminal 1B despite having a larger market share, reports Our Bureau in Mumbai.

Air-Deccan, SpiceJet, Air-Sahara and Jet Airways operate from the overcrowded terminal 1A, which resembles a railway station at peak hours. Similarly at the international airport at Sahar, Air-India has the rights to terminal 2C.

These rights, internationally referred to as ‘grandfather rights’ are given to airlines who have historic operations from an airport. However, aviation sources say that the ground reality has now changed completely and the airlines no longer have the monopoly that they had earlier.