Mumbai airport changes hands, talks begin

Mumbai: The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport has changed hands and will now be managed by the joint venture company Mumbai International Airport Private Limited (MIAL), led by the GVK-ACSA consortium.
While the official handover ‘‘on paper’’ took place at midnight on Tuesday, the full transition of management control will be effective from August 1, with three months left for troubleshooting.
So, in the next few days, the airport will be made more appealing aesthetically—increased seating, cleaner toilets, reduced queue time, easy access to trolleys and provision of clean drinking water—but no construction activities will take place before August.
Among other things, the group is exploring options to clear the airport slums, construct a third airstrip parallel to the main runway and build a swank common concourse. ‘‘They want to club the four terminals and have one continuous terminal building,’’ said an AAI official on condition of anonymity.
03/05/06 Lekha Agarwal/Mumbai Newsline

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