Mumbai airport's T2 terminal to open on Wednesday

The new T2 terminal at the airport here will open on Wednesday afternoon. Air India's Singapore-Chennai-Mumbai flight that lands here at 1 pm will be the first arrival and Jet Airways' Mumbai-London one will be the first departure from T2. Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan will inaugurate the elevated road linking the western express highway to T2 on Wednesday morning.

International operations at the Mumbai airport will not be suspended and the shift to T2 from the old terminal will happen simultaneously. Initially, it was proposed to suspend operations for a few hours to manage the transition. Separate teams from Customs, immigration and the Central Industrial Security Force will man both the terminal buildings on Wednesday.

A team of officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation inspected the airport and terminal facilities on Friday to assess whether they were prepared to handle the Airbus A380 aircraft. Dubai-based Emirates, the largest operator of A380 planes, had flown the super jumbo aircraft to celebrate the opening of Delhi's T3 terminal. Singapore Airlines and Emirates, however, said there were no plans to fly an A380 in Mumbai on Wednesday.

On January 10, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the T2. Spread over 400,000 sq metres, the imposing glass and granite terminal, seen as the GVK group's showpiece project, will enhance passenger amenities, reduce delays in immigration and security checks, apart from offering a wider shopping and dining options.

The new terminal also has a three-km mural, with peacock-inspired designs. T2 will increase the airport's capacity to 40 million passengers a year from 30 million now, improving its prospects as an aviation hub.