[9] It was a bigger airfield than nearby Juhu Aerodrome and was home to several RAF squadrons during World War II from 1942 to 1947.

[11] Named after the neighbourhood in which it stood and initially under the aegis of the Public Works Department, the new airport was subsequently run by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

With the dawning of the jumbo jet era in the 1970s, Santacruz, despite several extensions, began suffering from insufficient operational capacity.

The airlines were constantly expanding their services but there was no corresponding increase in space at the terminal, making it the most congested airport in the country.

[14] A major fire gutted the International section of the terminal building on 21 September 1979, killing three passengers and shutting down the airport.

[15] The Tata committee, set up in 1967 to examine the issues concerning the airport, had recommended the construction of a new international terminal to meet the requirements of traffic in the seventies.

Accordingly, construction of the new international terminal at Sahar to the northeast of Santacruz in Vile Parle was taken up at an estimated cost of ₹ 110 million.

By then, Bombay and Delhi Airports were handling 38% of the country's aircraft movement and generating one-third of all revenues earned by AAI.

The bidding process for its modernisation eventually began in May 2004 with the decision by the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) was announced in January 2006.

[2] The airport has faced serious criticism on several matters in terms of passenger amenities, comfort and convenience, as well as punctuality of flights, and inter-terminal transfers.

According to several reviews posted on Skytrax and TripAdvisor, passengers have complained and given negative feedback on several issues, such as mandatory security checks for domestic transfers, exorbitant food prices, slow security lines with absurd rules and regulations(for instance, removing charging cables and adapters apart from electronic devices), and overpriced prepaid taxi operations.

[28] In February 2008, MIAL entered into an agreement with Air Transport IT specialist SITA that led to CSIA becoming the first airport in India to Implement Common-use self-service Kiosks and CUTE (Common Use Terminal Equipment) check-in systems.

[36] The construction of new rapid exit taxiways helped in increasing flight handling capacity from 32 movements per hour to 44 in 2012.

However, the construction of this runway would necessitate a large-scale relocation of either Air India's hangars and maintenance facilities or the airport's flight kitchens and the Sahar police station, among others, depending on its alignment.

[42] India's second tallest air traffic control tower with a height of 87.5 m (287 ft) after Delhi Airport (101.9 m) stands in a section of the parking area opposite terminal 1B.

The triangular three-dimensional structure with soft vertices that won the Hong Kong Building Information Modelling (BIM) Award for the year 2009, has six storeys commencing from 62.1 m (204 ft).

[47][48] The previous ATC tower, built by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at an overall project cost of about ₹2.80 billion, was functional from 1999 to 2013.

[54] Citing safety and structural challenges, in March 2024, the Adani Group announced plans to demolish and re-build Terminal 1, a few months after the airport in Navi Mumbai starts operations.

[58] The structure has boarding gates on two piers extending southwards from a central processing building featuring a 42-metre high roof employing over 20,000 metric tonnes of fabricated steel covering 30 acres.

[59] However, the eastern pier of Terminal 2 remains truncated due to non-clearance of slums in the adjoining plot, giving an asymmetrical look when seen from above.

[82] Following frequent criticism, Wi-Fi kiosks were installed for passengers who do not have a local phone number, which can scan boarding passes.

[85] The airport's General Aviation (GA) Terminal for private and non-scheduled flight operators (NSOPs) is located at Kalina on the southwest side of the airfield.

Once the new airport at Navi Mumbai is opened, most of the business jets, turboprops and charter aircraft parked at CSMIA will be moved to the general aviation bays and hangars of NMIA by the end of 2025.

CSMIA will continue to be accessible to charter and private aircraft flyers as general aviation movement is not being banned.

After completing customs and immigration formalities, the departing travellers were led down to a mezzanine floor where five elongated nodules connect the terminal with the aircraft via aerobridges.

After taking over the redevelopment work of the airport in 2006, MIAL commissioned an offshore Common User Terminal (CUT) near the Marol pipeline as a temporary arrangement.

[235] The stations, part of the 12.5 kilometre Phase 1 route that runs between Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) and Aarey JVLR, were opened to the public on 7 October 2024.

[236] When both phases are completed, the line will run underground from Cuffe Parade to SEEPZ and will reduce the commute time between Colaba and the airport to 40 minutes.

[238] MIAL agreed to bear the cost of constructing the three stations, expected to total ₹ 777 crore, because of the potential increase in passenger convenience.

[235] MIAL inserted a 'metro component' in the User Development Fee charged at Mumbai Airport from 2016 to February 2023 to raise Rs 518 crore for metro connectivity.