Named as Passengers’ Day, the day was especially dedicated to the airport’s principal customers - the passengers. Colourful balloons arched at all the terminal entrances and standees around the terminals carrying heartfelt messages in their honour added a festive mood to the occasion. All passengers were presented with chocolates and balloons. But the departing passengers had an added facility as they could enjoy attractive offers at Food & Beverage outlets across the airport during stipulated hours.

While passengers were being taken care of, the MIALites were no way left behind. They surely had ebb in their morale as their office corridors were brightened up by posters conveying encouraging words on MIAL’s stand and commitment towards passengers. And the sweet smile visible on their face was returned with chocolates presented at their desk. The icing on the cake though was the launch of their intranet MIALite World, with wide-ranging features made available for better office communiqué.

On this note, Sanjay Reddy, MD – MIAL said, “With an enormous sense of pride I congratulate MIALites for making the change possible at CSIA. It is your belief, hard work and dedication that helps us move ahead. With time, we intend to retain our sense of unity and most significantly, remain focused at all times to keep CSIA on a positive track to achieve our objectives in the long term.”

MIAL has all good reasons to be proud of its achievements in the last three years, especially in the face of numerous challenges encountered during the modernization process. In addition to unveiling Terminal 1B in 2007, which is by far one of the best domestic passenger terminals in India, MIAL also encapsulated a blueprint for the transformation of CSIA, refurbished the swanky Terminals 2B and 1A, and most significantly laid the groundwork for the construction of the new integrated passenger terminal building, which will come up around 2013, earlier this year. With this new X shaped terminal, MIAL will cater to 40 million passengers annually.

Moreover, a majority of these changes carried out by MIAL have been duly acknowledged and appreciated by passengers on an ongoing basis. These include amongst others, those from the Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) and Frost & Sullivan. The bar has already been set high, but MIAL will continue to raise it further in the future.

Going forward, along with the first phase of the slum rehabilitation, MIAL will also complete the construction of the Domestic Terminal 1C by the end of this year which will connect the existing terminals 1A and 1B.

Meanwhile, some of the other developments in the next few years include a new Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower at Santa Cruz near the Terminal 1B parking area. The tower which will be built in a site area of 1200 Sqm is expected to be ready by 2010. The height of the tower is expected to be 83m from Ground level equivalent to a 30 storeyed residential building.

Lastly in these three years, MIAL has received tireless support from all its stakeholders, be it the employees, AAI, the Civil Aviation Ministry, airlines, passengers, etc. They have been understanding and patient enough to value the process of modernization. Committed to make MIAL’s vision a reality, it has been a priority to construct a landmark, a state-of-the-art airport, a destination in itself with world-class facilities and services that Mumbai would be proud of.