By IANS
Mumbai : The Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) here won the first Frost and Sullivan Asia Pacific Aerospace and Defence Awards for Aeronautical Excellence Airport of the Year 2008 for its efforts in developing the aeronautical segment of the airport in the Asia Pacific (APAC) Region.
The award was received in Singapore Monday, said G.V. Sanjay Reddy, managing director of Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL).
“It is very gratifying to note that MIAL’s efforts in modernising the CSIA in the airport aeronautical segment have been widely recognised by the industry, given the extremely challenging operating environment that we work in,” he said.
CSIA is one of the busiest airports in the APAC Region and is currently being upgraded to cater to 40 million passengers by 2012. At the end of 2007, MIAL recorded a total traffic of 25.2 million passengers and 520,000 tonnes of cargo.
In the past few years, CSIA has upgraded aeronautical related facilities to cater to increased passenger traffic and has been competing efficiently among its regional peers in the APAC Region.
Some of the criteria applied for the award included aircraft movement, aircraft types supported, ground support services, adoption of technology and the generation of aeronautical revenues.
“In less than two years, MIAL has successfully built and upgraded several aeronautical-side infrastructures to accommodate the high rise in aircraft movements as well as passenger and cargo traffic,” said Kennath Chan, consultant of Asia Pacific, Aerospace and Defence Practice, Frost and Sullivan.
The 2008 Frost and Sullivan Aeronautical Excellence Airport of the Year award is the first such industry-led award instituted this year recognising an organisation that is able to mould traditional practices (airport aeronautical revenue generation practices) to better serve airport aeronautical requirements in addition to generating above-average revenues.
The recipient also needs to demonstrate innovative development efforts in continuously modernising or upgrading airport facilities to ensure growth in the aeronautical segment of an airport.