Mumbai Airport attains ACI Health Accreditation for second year running

With the increasing need for airports across the globe to rebuild their health and safety infrastructure, Mumbai International Airport (BOM) has, yet again, proved its mettle by achieving the accreditation under the Airport Council of India’s (ACI) Health Accreditation programme. After achieving the accreditation in 2020, becoming India’s first airport to achieve the accredited status, Mumbai International has continued to consistently demonstrate its commitment to prioritising the health and safety practices in a measurable and established manner to the passengers, government, and the regulators alike. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has propelled businesses to step up their health and safety infrastructure that were previously in place. With an aim to meet the demands of a more safe and secure airport experience for the passengers, Mumbai Airport, throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic ensured a robust health and safety mechanism was practiced. The safety measures taken at the airport have been carefully curated in line with the state and central government mandates, with a strict adherence to the health and safety regulations as necessitated by the authorities. Meanwhile, prominent international aviation bodies have also put in place recommendations for the healthy upkeep of the operations across the airports. The Airport Health Accreditation (AHA) programme launched by ACI in July 2020, assesses the new health measures and procedures adopted by airports because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) Council Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) recommendations, the programme assesses procedures like cleaning and disinfection, social distancing, staff protection, physical layout, passenger communications and passenger facilities. In this light, the re-accreditation stands as a testament to the sustained efforts at Mumbai International to maintain the industry best practices as a marker of the continued confidence of the passengers in the airport’s health and safety infrastructure.

The safety initiatives put in place at Mumbai Airport touched upon all possible aspects of the safety measures necessary under the prevailing circumstances. From stringent screening, social distancing, mandatory compliance with wearing PPEs and required gears, as well as sanitisation and disinfection processes were carefully practiced and strictly followed at the airport premise. Simultaneously, the airport incorporated technology as a key component of the safety measures. The contactless experience throughout the airport such as self-check-in kiosks and e-boarding passes, promoted the remote model of functioning at the airport. While installation of glass partitions on all counters, strategic placement of hand sanitisers at all touchpoints, sanitisation of cabs across the airports, were a few more measures maintained throughout this period.

The increased vaccination rates and the easing of travel restrictions would lead to a further surge in air travel at this juncture and the airports need to take proactive measures to keep themselves ready for the forthcoming traffic. Mumbai International has long enjoyed the trust of its passengers in providing the best-in-class health and hygiene practice, and the recent accreditation further goes to build the faith of their passengers.