Customs and immigration formalities take 4 hours at Mumbai airport

With Civil Aviation Ministry concentrating on introducing more and more international flights from Delhi and Mumbai airports, leaving the other airports starved of flights, waiting period at the Mumbai airport has touched more than four hours. With the holiday season approaching, an international passenger complained that he flew into Mumbai from Helsinki in 8 hours but took more than four hours to leave the airport after complying with immigration and customs formalities.

Fliers have repeatedly voiced their anger on social media since February 1, tagging the airport and civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, which seem to have fallen on deaf ears, according to media reports. An International journalist took to twitter to state that it took four hours for his family to clear immigration at Mumbai airport as only two officers were manning the counters in the early hours despite a flurry of international flights landing every 10 to 15 minutes.

The arrivals data showed that during early morning over 40 international flights landed at the airport every few minutes. The international arrivals also have to undergo biometric scanning before they are allowed to enter the city.

The airport had also integrated the security check for domestic and international passengers, which has further resulted in challenges last year. “Fingerprint scanners not working, scuffles breaking out and to top it off, all baggage lost!,” the journalist tweeted, adding, “Such a poor first impression to give of the city -- and, one that could easily be remedied. Simple things, like there was not a single airport employee on the arrivals side to assist or update those waiting. Airport WiFi also not working, according to passengers.”

Mumbai airport’s twitter handle responded to each of the tweets with its standard response – that airport teams were working tirelessly and the customs and immigration were central agencies, and that the airport had no control over the deployment of its personnel.