Navratri Rush Causes Chaos At Mumbai Airport, Flyers Throw Luggage, Miss Flights

People threw their luggage, missed flights being in long queues at the security check. Yes, you read that right. If you weren't at the Mumbai airport this morning, consider yourself lucky.

Shocking scenes at Mumbai airport

The Mumbai International Airport witnessed chaos and massive rush of passengers on Friday morning as people left the city for their hometowns for the Navratri festival. The terminal looked like an overtly crowded railway station, right put of 90s when many airports didn't exist.

A number of people reportedly missed their flight in all the commotion and blamed the airport authorities for poor management of the crowd that forced them to remain stuck in long queues.

Twitter

Domestic carrier IndiGo and another carrier Vistara advised passengers "to report early to allow sufficient time for security check".

Airport attributed rush to "festive season"

Later, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) spokesperson said that owing to the onset of the festive season, there has been a surge in passenger traffic and a sudden spike witnessed at the airport this morning.

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"CSMIA airport has deployed additional staff for a quicker turnaround at all the security checkpoints for a smoother passenger experience. Additionally, CSMIA is following all the COVID protocols laid down by the Government to ensure a smoother transition," the spokesperson said in a statement.

Passengers' last resort -- Twitter

Angry passengers took to social media to vent out their frustration.

¡°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 doing their best but absolutely unable to cope. Who runs this absolute shitshow? Please tag them. (sic)," composer and singer Vishal Dadlani 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 doing their best but absolutely unable to cope.

Who runs this absolute shitshow? Please tag them.

¡ª VISHAL DADLANI (@VishalDadlani) October 8, 2021

Prakarsh Gagdani, CEO of fintech firm 5paisa.com, said the otherwise simple process of check-in and security check was taking over an hour. ¡°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,¡± he said.

Mumbai Airport is a mess. It takes atleast 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. pic.twitter.com/OII3s46GZh

¡ª Prakarsh Gagdani (@PrakarshGagdani) October 8, 2021

Good times are back? Mumbai airport this morning. Travel is the new wave :-) pic.twitter.com/FC1qRX95zg

¡ª K Sudarshan (@SudarshanEMA) October 8, 2021

Complete chaos at Mumbai airport and the poor admin/officials have no idea how to control it. Proper mismanagement. @AdaniOnline @CSMIA_Official pic.twitter.com/dXElWci8pM

¡ª Neelesh Arora (@AroraNeelesh) October 8, 2021

Indigo, Vistara asked people "to report early"

Some airlines such as IndiGo and Vistara had warned passengers beforehand to ¡°to report early to allow sufficient time for security check".

#6ETravelAdvisory: Heavy rush at #Mumbai and #Chennai Airport. Passengers are advised to report early to allow sufficient time for security check.

¡ª IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) October 8, 2021

#ImportantUpdate: Due to Security Hold Area congestion at Terminal T2 Mumbai Airport, we recommend our customers to report early for check-in to avoid any inconvenience.

¡ª Vistara (@airvistara) October 8, 2021

The authorities have also decided to reopen Terminal 1 from October 20. "In keeping with the growing increase of passenger traffic and to ensure a seamless service experience, CSMIA has planned to open Terminal 1 operations from 20th October, 2021," it said.

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