Airfares witness 30% rise as runway repair work hits flight operations at Mumbai airport

Mumbai: With the Mumbai airport shutting for runway repairs thrice a week, airfares especially on the Delhi-Mumbai sector, has seen a surge of 30 percent owning to fewer flights operating out of one of India’s busiest airports. “The fares are up by over 30 percent compared to the non-closure days. We would advise travellers to plan their travel well in advance to avoid paying these extremely high fares,” Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C) Yatra, an online travel agency. [caption id=“attachment_6007281” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Mumbai airport. PTI[/caption] The airport will be shut between 11 am and 5 pm every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 7 February to 30 March for re-carpeting of the intersection between the two runways. According to Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), 240 flights daily and 5,520 flights in all will be cancelled daily from the airport and various international flights have also been rescheduled. On a daily basis, the Mumbai airport handles 950 incoming flights and 36 flights every hour. The main runway has the capacity to take up to 50 flights per hour.