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City airport cancels plans to bar cargo carriers, cut passenger airlines' slots

City airport cancels plans to bar cargo carriers, cut passenger airlines' slots

Time of India16-05-2025
Mumbai: In a win for certain carriers, Mumbai airport has withdrawn its plan to cancel take-off & landing slots granted to cargo flights post-Aug 16 and reduce slots of passenger airlines for the winter schedule (Oct-end to March-end 2026).
The decision was taken following discussions between carriers and the airport operator, reports Manju V.
Slots are granted twice a year, for summer and winter, a few months in advance. The more slots an airline has at an airport, the more flights it can operate into and out of it.
On April 21, the airport operator had unveiled the plan citing construction of a new taxiway and reconstruction of Terminal 1. The airlines' association protested the "seemingly permanent withdrawal of historic slots" saying it "will cause long-lasting damage to the airport's reputation and credibility".
It was understood that the carriers would move their cancelled flights to the upcoming Navi Mumbai airport.
The decision to reinstate slots to carriers was taken following discussions between airline representatives and the Mumbai airport's operator at the first 'Slot Coordination Committee' meeting held for the airport.
A slot is a specified bracket of time granted to an airline to carry out a landing or take-off and use the airport infrastructure.
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Time slots help manage airport capacity and check congestion.
"Airline representatives advocated for the reinstatement and approval of all historical slots for the 2025 winter schedule, particularly for international airlines that previously received communication from Mumbai airport on April 21 indicating slot reductions. The
Airports Authority of India
supported the airline representative, and following discussions, the committee unanimously agreed that all historical slots for winter 2025 will be retained," said a source.
Mumbai airport did not comment.
The issue began on April 21. Mumbai airport's operator informed cargo carriers that all their slots post-Aug 16 were cancelled -- they could not operate to Mumbai airport, that is. At the same time, the airport informed certain Middle Eastern passenger airlines that slots granted to them for the period between the end of Oct and the end of March (winter schedule 2025) were reduced. For instance, if an airline was granted two landing and two take-off slots per day, the airport informed them that they would get only one landing and one take-off slot in the upcoming winter schedule.
Airlines, through their trade body, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), fought this decision and sought govt intervention to restore the cancelled legacy slots. IATA, in its protest letter, said the "seemingly permanent withdrawal of historic slots for passenger airlines… is not what one would expect of a major hub airport in India".
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) approved slots at Mumbai airport for freighters for summer 2025, that is, till the end of Oct. This will continue without interruption, the slot committee decided.
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