Mumbai Airport’s Big Capacity Push: More Landings, Same Runway, New Tech | Exclusive

Mumbai Airport’s Big Capacity Push: More Landings, Same Runway, New Tech | Exclusive The plan is to move towards precision-based air traffic control, replacing traditional, estimation-heavy methods with machine-enabled decision support Share Your Feedback Choose News18 on Google Mumbai’s aviation ecosystem is on the cusp of a major transformation-one that won’t be marked by new runways or towering terminals, but by a fundamental change in how aircraft are guided through some of the most congested airspaces in the world. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, the world’s busiest single-runway, mixed-mode airport, is preparing to handle more aircraft and passengers-not by building new concrete, but by rewriting the rules of how planes land. Recommended Stories The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has started the process to bring in global technology providers for end-to-end supply, installation, testing, training, and long-term support, with a target to make the system operational before the end of 2028. CNN-News18 has accessed a document that details the plan. If delivered on schedule, this invisible tech shift could unlock new flight slots, ease congestion, and future-proof India’s busiest airport-proving that sometimes, the biggest infrastructure upgrades happen not on the ground, but in the sky. With over 55 million passengers and more than 3.3 lakh aircraft movements in 2024-25, Mumbai’s skies are already stretched. And with India’s air travel demand projected to grow steadily over the next two decades, the pressure is only going to rise. What AAI is Planning The plan is to move towards precision-based air traffic control, replacing traditional, estimation-heavy methods with machine-enabled decision support. The idea is to introduce an Intelligent Approach system built around Time-Based Separation, allowing aircraft to be sequenced more accurately on final approach. The result: smoother landings, tighter yet safer spacing between aircraft, and operations that run closer to the runway’s true maximum capacity. Today, Mumbai airport operates at about 44 to 46 aircraft movements an hour. Variations in spacing, aircraft bunching and peak-hour spillovers often force traffic flow restrictions and increase workload for air traffic controllers. The new system aims to change that by giving controllers advanced tools that calculate optimal arrival times in real time, factoring in aircraft performance, wake turbulence, and prevailing conditions. “Less guesswork, more precision," is how one top official described it, while speaking to CNN-News18. The benefits go beyond capacity. By cutting unnecessary track miles during arrival, airlines stand to save fuel and reduce emissions, while controllers gain breathing space to plan ahead rather than constantly firefight. Crucially, the system will be integrated with existing automation, surveillance upgrades and digital pilot-controller communications, and will manage approaches for both Mumbai and the upcoming Navi Mumbai airport through a common control framework. The Challenge Currently Between April 2024 and March 2025, Mumbai airport handled more than 55 million passengers and over 3.3 lakh aircraft movements, making it the second-busiest airport in India. All this traffic is managed on a single primary runway handling both arrivals and departures-an operational reality that places Mumbai in a league of its own...

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