Prime Minister's address at the inauguration of New Integrated Terminal (T2) of Mumbai Airport
2"I believe today marks a very important special occasion in the development of the civil aviation sector in our country. I am delighted to be a part of this function to inaugurate the state-of-the-art Terminal-2 of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA).
This terminal is expected to establish new global bench-marks of functional efficiency and operational safety for airports. It also exemplifies our ability as a nation to build world-class infrastructure. I have no doubt that this terminal will fulfill the expectations we have from it and make us all feel very proud.
I compliment Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) for building this state-of-the art facility. The entrepreneurial skills of Shri GVK Reddy and his colleagues are truly first-class. I am aware that they have overcome serious challenges that arise in expansion and up-gradation of Brownfield airports, especially in a land constrained city like Mumbai. It is even more creditable that they have ensured that the ongoing airport operations were not affected even while this project was being implemented.
I also compliment my Cabinet colleague Shri Ajit Singh and his team in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, including Minister of State Shri K.C.Venugopal, for their commitment to the overall development of the civil aviation sector in India, and in particular for ensuring effective implementation of the Terminal-2 project.
We have been working hard to make the Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport a world class facility. I am happy that our efforts have met with success as the airport's Passenger Convenience Ratings, given by Airports Council International, have improved considerably in recent years. Its Airport Service Quality (ASQ) rating has gone up from 3.53 in 2007 to 4.64 in 2012. It is now the 3rd Best Global Airport in the 25 to 40 million Passenger Capacity category. I am sure that with the commissioning of its Terminal-2, this airport will improve even further and will be counted among the very best in the world. That should be our ambition and it can be done.
This is a reasonable expectation given that the new terminal has the latest design features and particularly meets international standards in addressing critical environmental concerns like those of energy and water efficiency and indoor air quality. It is passenger friendly and the conveniences of all categories of passengers, including people with reduced mobility, have been an important consideration in its design. Particular emphasis has been given to build strong airside capabilities, resulting in significant improvement in hourly runway movements. With the commissioning of Terminal-2, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport has become code F compliant and is now ready to handle A-380 type aircraft operations.