Moneylife Digital Team

Mumbai Airport is the busiest and caters to the country’s financial capital, but is the only one without a bus shuttle—Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and New Delhi already have such an efficient service in place

Time and again, we are reminded that Mumbai is India's financial capital, home to India Inc and a major contributor to the national exchequer. But if you have just touched down after a harrowing flight, heaven forbid if you don't have a vehicle waiting for you.

Even as major cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata provide efficient and excellent airport shuttle services to passengers, the country's busiest airport Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at Mumbai is the only one which lacks such a shuttle service.

Moneylife has written on the plight of Mumbai's airport: Please See: You have landed at Mumbai. Where's the shuttle to go home?  on 19th September, and the second part on 20th September BEST will start a dedicated Mumbai Airport shuttle but it wants a dedicated lane).

Transport experts say that if all other major cities provide such efficient shuttle services, it is even more important to start a similar service, with enough luggage handling systems and capacity to handle the high frequency of flights at Mumbai airport, considering the woes of travellers and growing passenger demand.



At the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), which is located 45km away from the city, the shuttle service started by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation connects well with important parts of the city such as Jeevan Bhima Nagar, HAL Airport, JP Nagar, MG Road, Koramangala, Hebbal and outskirts such as Whitefield, and Electronics City.

This air-conditioned Volvo service called 'Vayu Vajra', has gained popularity among commuters for its high frequency-one bus in every 10-15mns-and spacious luggage compartments. It also has easy en route pick-up points. The service is available 24x7, which is in sync with arrival and departure schedules of BIAL and the fare is affordable, ranging between Rs80-Rs200. There is also a non air-conditioned shuttle service to BIAL, known as 'Suvarna', which offers comfortable travel and affordable fares.

A similar successful service is available in Hyderabad. For the 22km distance between the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and the main city, an efficient bus shuttle named 'Aero Express' provides comfortable travel for passengers. It also has enough luggage space along with facilities such as mobile plug-in chargers, television etc.



Aero Express is an air-conditioned, non-stop bus (Volvo) service, which reaches important points in the city such as the Secretariat, Mehdipatnam, Kukatpally, Hitech City, LB Nagar, Begumpet, Tarnaka and also to twin city Secunderabad. The one-way fare is Rs180 and the to-and-fro airport fare is Rs300. The shuttle service is available round the clock with a frequency of 30 minutes.

Kolkata's Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport has a Volvo-based shuttle service in place. The West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation runs air-conditioned buses every 30 minutes from the centre of town-Esplanade, connecting it with the airport. Volvo City Bus Services is a public-private partnership between the state's transport department and Kaushik Logistics in the Airport-Tollygunge route.

At Delhi airport, a recently started train service, the Delhi Airport Express, provides easy transport to passengers.

But as we have reported, public bus transport provider BEST is reluctant to provide a dedicated shuttle service to Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. It has demanded dedicated lanes to provide such a service. The absence of such a service is leaving passengers stranded at the airport terminals, for two hours at times, as cabbies often refuse to ply and there is a dearth of pre-paid taxis.

How long will passengers (not) be taken for a ride?