The demolition of Mumbai airport’s domestic Terminal 1-A, which was announced in January, seems to be close. On Wednesday, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) issued a public notice regarding the demolition of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport’s (CSMIA) Terminal 1-A building. The demolition work will not affect any operation at the CSMIA domestic terminal, as the building in question has not been in public use since around 2016.
The T1-A building, which is also known as the old airport building, was previously divided into three parts — T1-A, T1-B, and T1-C. The T-1A was used only by Indian Airlines (Air India) till 2005, post which Kingfisher Airlines operated alongside. Once Kingfisher ceased operations, the terminal space was given to GoAir. After all operations of Air India and GoAir shifted to Terminal 2 and Terminal 1-B of CSMIA, T1-A was shut to the public. In 2017, to prevent confusion, MIAL named Terminal 1-B as Terminal 1.
Terminal 1-A while it was still in use. FILE PIC
The notice issued by MIAL, which was found on social media, says that the authorities have received a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for the demolition to begin. Along with the demolition of the T1-A building, an elevated road, a defunct chiller, and a temporary shed near the structure will also be demolished.
While MIAL authorities have not confirmed any start and end dates for the demolition work, when this reporter visited the old airport building, it was noticed that the work had already begun. Interestingly, mid-day also found out that the same company which was involved in the demolition work of the old Sahar airport, in place of which the new Terminal 2 stands, is working on the demolition of T1-A.
People Speak
To understand how the old airport used to be, before all the development and modernisation efforts, mid-day contacted KVJ Rao, a retired pilot who had seen and worked at the old airport. Rao said, “The old airport had its own charm. There were no beautifications or aesthetic work done at the airport, but it was cosy. Landing at the airport gave all the passengers, pilots, and crew a feeling of coming home.”
Rao’s father, who was also a pilot, had flown in and out of the old airport numerous times. “I used to visit the airport with my father, and it was never as guarded as it is right now. We were easily able to walk to the airport without any issues. It is now more guarded for good reason, but it will never be the same as it was before.”
He further added, “It is somewhat of a beauty of time that we don’t have many photos of the airport… phones didn’t have cameras, and not everyone could afford cameras. Taking pictures was a luxury as one would need to go to a photo studio to get them developed.”
No set timeline
Though it is not confirmed when the complete demolition work of T1 will happen, the current work in progress will not affect any flight operations or passengers, as the Terminal 1A building has already been closed for several years, and all precautions are being taken at the work site. MIAL had in January announced the refurbishment of the domestic Terminal 1 and a 42 per cent increase in capacity of the airport, from 15 million passengers per annum (MPPA) to 20 MPPA. But the complete shutdown of the T1 will not take place till the Navi Mumbai International Airport’s Terminal 2 is open for passengers, giving the domestic airport a few more years of operation.
2016
Year building was closed to public
