Mumbai airport rest rooms dismantled

Air passengers can afford more expensive hotel accommodation, say authorities

BY A CORRESPONDENT
May 8, 2006

Passengers at the domestic terminal of Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji airport will have to face discomfort as the 12 retiring rooms in the airport have been removed to make way for offices, according to a Mid-Day report. These offices will cater to the new private sector management. According to an AAI official, quoted in the report, "There were just 12 rooms. The airport gets passenger traffic of five lakh passengers every year, what will they do now?"

He said, "The retiring rooms mainly cater to transit passengers and also served passengers well in case of flight delays." The report has also confirmed that these rooms, located on the first floor of terminal 1 B, have always been used maximally. The change will affect 540 people per month.

Passengers were allowed room usage for a maximum of 12 hours. Six of the twelve were single occupancy rooms reserved for VIP persons, including government officials. The other six were for public use, on a twin sharing basis.

When asked by the paper, RJ Treasuryvala, Mumbai Airport Director said that inconvenienced passengers could use "hotels near the airport instead." To a query about the higher hotel rates (Rs 7,000 and Rs 13,000 for a overnight stay in five-star hotels, compared to Rs 250 plus taxes, per person for the retiring rooms), Treasuryvala said, "Passengers who fly can definitely afford the hotels."