Mumbai Airport: COVID-19 taught us airports should maintain adequate financial reserves

Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport CEO Rajeev Jain, speaking at CAPA Live January 2021, stated (13-Jan-2021) one of the lessons the airport has learned from the impact of COVID-19 on its revenue during the peak of the crisis is that airports need to maintain sufficient financial reserves to adequately fund airport operations in the event of calamities like the global pandemic. Mr Jain said: "Thankfully India's Government extended some relief by placing a moratorium on the repayment of loans and interest, that was a great help, at least we could meet our operating expenses". He further noted that Mumbai Airport's stakeholders, including vendors and personnel, understood and cooperated with its temporary deferring of payments during the peak of the crisis, and the airport is "now up to date" with salary payments to personnel.