However, voices from the country’s aviation industry say India’s case is different from the rest of the world as the country witnessed unprecedented growth in airline traffic last year. The aviation industry, after three disastrous quarters is hoping to recover because of the drop in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices. A spokesperson from the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) also stated that delays in arrivals are consequential and the airport operator cannot alone be held responsible for this. “First of all, we’ve not seen the report and therefore do not know the parameters they’ve used in their study. However, when you talk of arrival delays and say those are almost half (50.5) of all arrivals yet we do not figure anywhere in terms of departure delays,” he said. “When we talk of delays in arrivals or departures, the delays are multi-pronged and a host of agencies are involved, like airlines, or catering companies etc. And that is why these delays are consequential delays and airport operator cannot be blamed alone,” he added.

The percentage of on-time arrivals at Mumbai airport was just 49.5 as compared to 50.89 for Delhi and 60.16 for Bangalore. The Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca, Morocco, ranked third on the list of airports with the most arrival delays at 53.83 per cent.

The spokesperson, however, also stressed upon the need for better navigational equipment to ensure better traffic management across the country. “When three of India’s airports come under the top ten, there definitely is a scope for improvement in the navigational system,” he said, adding that while delays in departures could be attributed to ground conditions and infrastructure issues, arrival delays could not be attributed to the airports.

Another senior official, not wishing to be named, from the Airports Authority of India (AAI), said the primary reason for the delays is the amount of flight movements than can be handled in a specific amount of time. “The declared capacity of Mumbai airport is 30 movements per hour but we are clocking an average of 36-37 movements per hour, which is bound to increase congestion and thus cause delays,” said the official.  However, the airport spokesperson, replying on the congestion issue, said congestion during peak hours is characteristic of all airports and that is because of the market demand. “The issue is also related to ATC capacity,” he said.