Scenes of chaos unfolded at Mumbai’s international airport on Friday morning as a heavy rush of passengers brought the airport to a standstill.
Visuals shared on Twitter showed thousands of passengers standing in lengthy queues snaking all more than the verify-in region. Several passengers who missed their flights amid the chaos place the blame squarely on the airport authorities for its poor crowd management.
The heavy rush of passengers even prompted IndiGo Airlines to tweet out an advisory. “Heavy rush at #Mumbai and #Chennai Airport. Passengers are advised to report early to allow sufficient time for security check,” the low-expense carrier tweeted.
#6ETravelAdvisory: Heavy rush at #Mumbai and #Chennai Airport. Passengers are advised to report early to permit enough time for safety verify.
— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) October 8, 2021
According to reports, the airport has deployed added safety personnel to manage the passenger rush, producing a bottleneck.
The surge of passengers is becoming attributed to the Navratri festival, which started on Thursday, reports citing airport sources mentioned. With India’s active Covid-19 caseload waning more than the previous handful of months, a lot of people today took the chance to book trips throughout the festival season.
Bollywood singer and composer Vishal Dadlani was amongst these who got stuck at the airport throughout the chaos. “T2 AT CSMIA (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport) is a shambles. Literally feels like we’re in the dark ages. Endless milling crowds, machines breaking down, tempers frayed, chaos everywhere. Staff doing their best but absolutely unable to cope. Who runs this absolute shitshow? Please tag them,” he tweeted.
T2 AT CSMIA (Mumbai Airport) is a shambles.
Literally feels like we’re in the dark ages. Endless milling crowds, machines breaking down, tempers frayed, chaos everywhere. Staff carrying out their greatest but definitely unable to cope.
Who runs this absolute shitshow? Please tag them.
— VISHAL DADLANI (@VishalDadlani) October 8, 2021
Fintech corporation 5paisa.com CEO Prakarsh Gagdani also shared a image of the chaos on Twitter, writing: “Mumbai Airport is a mess. It takes at least 1 hr to enter and do check-in and then this crowd for security check. How can someone board a flight even reaching 2 1/2 hrs before domestic flight. This is the real commercial capital of the country.”
Mumbai Airport is a mess. It requires atleast 1 hr to enter and do verify-in and then this crowd for safety verify. How can somebody board a flight even reaching 2 1/2 hrs ahead of domestic flight. This is the true industrial capital of the nation. pic.twitter.com/OII3s46GZh
— Prakarsh Gagdani (@PrakarshGagdani) October 8, 2021
Journalist Sheela Bhatt tweeted that the circumstance was related at Terminal 3 of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. However, there have been reports of any passengers missing their flights so far.