Nearly 80 aircraft are parked at the airport.
Even as Mumbai braces for Cyclone Nisarga on June 3, the city airport operator, airlines and charter service providers got into action a day before to ensure the safety of their aircraft.
All the airlines, including IndiGo and Vistara, have cancelled flights from Mumbai airport, which was presently handling 25 arrivals and an equal number of departures. IndiGo, which was operating 17 flights out of the commercial capital, had only three planned for June 3.
Most of the charter providers had flown out their aircraft on Tuesday itself. "We flew out four of our aircraft from Mumbai. We have parked them in Nagpur and Begumpet," Kanika Tekriwal, Founder & CEO, JetSetGo, told Moneycontrol.
GVK MIAL, which operates the Mumbai airport, said that special precautions have been taken for smaller and lighter aircraft, "as they are vulnerable to strong winds."
Some of these aircraft have been parked inside the hangar, the company said. "The airport has ensured that minimum aircraft are parked on the apron. The airport is closely coordinating with IMD to monitor the progress/dissipation of adverse weather," it said in a statement.
A senior executive told Moneycontrol that about 70 commercial aircraft are parked on the apron area, and eight smaller planes are parked safely inside hangars.
Industry executives point out that the airport, the second busiest in the country, has limited space in its hangar. "The Juhu airport has space for helicopters. So most of the helicopters have been parked there," said a senior executive at a charter service provider.
Reports have said that the Juhu airport, which used to handle 100 helicopter movements a day, now does 50.
Nisarga cyclone is expected to landfall in Alibaug, close to Mumbai, on Wednesday afternoon.
The aviation sector has just about started counting its losses from Cyclone Amphan in West Bengal. The cyclone had battered the Kolkata airport too, with pictures of the collapsed hangar being widely shared on social media.
"The Kolkata airport was flooded and there were damages to aircraft too. With Cyclone Nisarga, the airlines are being doubly careful," said a senior executive from an airline.Facebook-BCG report suggests these measures for businesses to unlock the changing consumer behaviour in the current pandemic. Read More!
