When planning a trip to the Mumbai region, travelers should be aware of the current condition of congestion and increased fees affecting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (VABB).
VABB is one of the busiest airports in the world and is the only airport in the city serving international and domestic travelers flying either commercial airlines or in private jets.
Securing runway slots and aircraft parking inevitably poses challenges, even under normal conditions. Unfortunately, business aircraft are considered a lower priority than transport passenger aircraft, and this often translates to a sub-standard experience with ground support services.
FPI clients have a means of mitigating the frustrations thanks to FPI’s relationship with SRC Aviation, Ltd., based in Delhi, India, a top supervisory service provider within FPI’s SSN network.
FPI’s relationship with SRC dates back to approximately 1980, and SRC has been a key handling firm providing exceptional private aviation support services to the region since 1976. SRC’s primary locations of service include India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri-Lanka, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.
As mentioned, VABB is notorious for sub-standard services specifically for business aircraft travelers, and this is where SRC comes in.
“We’re here to fill in the gap between VABB’s available services and the level of professionalism that International operators have come to expect. We want to bring our clients’ experiences up to excellent when traveling to VABB and other airports within our scope,” states Bobby Chadha, Managing Director at SRC.
The situation at VABB is expected to intensify until a newer airport approximately 50 kilometers SE of VABB (approx. 2.5hr drive-time) is operational. This yet-named airport is slated to receive domestic commercial passengers in August 2025. However, it is still unclear how and when the newer airport will be available for General Aviation crew and passengers.
Additionally, VABB GA operators should be prepared to encounter exceptionally high and often arbitrary fees and price increases, due to a combination of the airport being partially privatized and due to the increased demand being placed on the airport grounds and facilities.
Considering all of the above, it may be necessary to reposition parking at other neighboring airports (see map below). It should be noted that several of these alternate airports are also owned by the same private operator, and therefore it may be unlikely to avoid similar price increases in the near future at these locations.
The following airports might be solutions when mitigating the issue of congestion and repositioning the aircraft:
- VASU (Surat Intl. Airport)
- VANP (Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Intl. Airport)
- VAID (Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Intl. Airport)
- VAAH (Ahmedabad Airport)
- VAAU (Aurangabad Airport)
- VOHY (Hyderabad Intl. Airport)
SRC has a lengthy history with VABB and many other resources in the region, and approximately 90% of parking permit requests for VABB are successful when ample notice is provided.
However, the current maximum parking time permitted is 24hrs only. For any extended parking requirements at VABB, great efforts must be made to arrange for special parking permissions, and penal charges may still apply.
(Alternate airports surrounding VABB:)
In conclusion, it is important to provide Flight Pro/SRC Aviation with as much lead time as possible with schedules for operations to Mumbai due to the challenges described above. Please reach out to FPI’s Ops Team ([email protected]) to let us know how we can assist with your trip planning into the region, or if you have any questions regarding this particular airport.
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To learn more about FPI, FPC, or regarding the Compliance, Operations, Regulatory, and other Special Services Network (SSN) teams, please contact our Operations staff here at Flight Pro International.
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