- Children from NGO undertake a guided tour of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai
Mumbai, April 11, 2017: GVK MIAL, the company that administers Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) today helped fulfill the wishes of 35 young minds from the NGO ‘The Wishing Factory’ by facilitating an educational excursion at the city airport, in association with Jet Airways, India’s full-service, premier international airline.
The first-ever ‘educational excursion’ carried out for the NGO, brought the children up close with the experience of life at an airport. The group of young and curious children was escorted by a guide, who not only explained the various guest facing processes including ticketing, check-in, security clearance, but also the back-end operations such as baggage segregation and others that facilitate guest movement within the airport. Finally, the children were also taken on a bus ride of the airport apron area, showing them the various on-ground activities such as taxiing aircraft, refueling as well as in flight catering.
The Wishing Factory is a non-profit initiative that aims to fulfill the wishes of terminally ill Thalassemia Major and Blood Cancer patients. The NGO supports all health care and education of such patients. Operating in Maharashtra and Gujarat, The Wishing Factory has successfully fulfilled over 100 wishes of its patients.
A MIAL spokesperson said, “It was a rewarding experience to witness smiles on the faces of these children, who have always aspired to have a glimpse of an international airport that offers an unmatched experience and a superlative environment. As a conscientious organisation, the Mumbai Airport engages with the underprivileged and children with special needs in keeping with the company’s philosophy of giving back to the society. It is an honour for us to facilitate this initiative that will help fulfill their small dreams, and we will continue to extend our whole-hearted support for such initiatives in future.”
Mahazareen Dastur, Project Manager, The Wishing Factory, said, “From time to time, The Wishing Factory has been touched by kind gestures of our donors and associates. Such association has helped our thalassemia and leukemia patients feel welcome and cared for while bringing much-needed moments of happiness and awe to their stressed lives. Jet Airways is an example of such an association. So many of the children registered with us have only dreamed of what the inside of an airport or a runway might look like. A few even dream of flying their own plane someday. Jet Airways is helping us make their wishes come true by having organised this trip to T2. The Wishing Factory is deeply grateful to Jet Airways for their gesture and looks forward to maintaining our association.”
Jayaraj Shanmugam, Chief Commercial Officer, Jet Airways, said, “We have always believed that giving wings to dreams is one of the best ways to brighten up the lives of little children. At Jet Airways, it has always been our unwavering and consistent endeavour to connect people with ease. Today, we are taking this one notch higher and connecting these little angels with their long cherished dream of having a first-hand glance inside an airport terminal. Such initiatives will continue to receive our whole-hearted support.”
About GVK MIAL
GVK Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd (MIAL) is a Public Private Partnership joint venture between a GVK-led consortium and the Airports Authority of India (AAI). GVK MIAL was awarded the mandate for operating and modernizing Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai (CSIA). Through this transformational initiative, GVK MIAL aims to make CSIA one of the world’s best airports, which consistently delights customers besides being the pride of Mumbai. The new integrated Terminal 2 at CSIA enhances the airport’s capacity to service 40 million passengers and one million tons of cargo annually.