Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia said commercial operations of the Rs 18,000-crore Navi Mumbai International Airport are expected to start by March 31, 2025.
Scindia said in the first and the second phase that will begin together, one runway, one terminal and a passenger capacity of two crore will be created. “The second runway, four terminals along with an increased passenger capacity of nine crore will be created in Phase 3, 4 and 5,” he said in Navi Mumbai.
He added that the Navi Mumbai airport will have road, rail and metro connectivity with future plans of water connectivity as well. The airport will be connected to the road in three directions: NH 4B (348), the Sion Panvel Highway and through Atal Setu (new sea link). The airport will be connected to the railway network by Targhar Railway station. Metro connectivity to the airport will be via Metro line 2D: DN Nagar to Mandale – Mankhurd, metro line 8: Mumbai Airport to Navi Mumbai Airport and Navi Mumbai Pendhar Belapur Taloja metro line. In the future, there’s a plan to connect the airport through hovercraft from Colaba and through cargo from Raigad in Phase 2, he said.
Scindia was in Navi Mumbai to inspect the development of the new airport. He said the physical and financial progress has been completed up to 55-60 per cent.
The airport will be the first in the country with automated passenger movement within its 1,600 hectares for 10 kms on the city side and on the airside.
A hundred percent green airport is being created in the first phase. It is expected that the airport will lead to increased air traffic and help decongest the Mumbai International Airport. The government aims to double domestic passenger traffic in the country from the present 15 crore to 30 crores by 2030. There is also a resolve to create more than 200 airports in the country in the next six years.