The long-awaited Navi Mumbai International Airport was inaugurated today on October 8, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The 19,650 crore project made to ease the paramount congestion at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport spans 1,160 hectares and puts the city on a global map of other such metropolitan areas with multiple airports. The list includes the likes of London, New York, and Tokyo.
When will the Navi Mumbai International Airport start operations?
The day-to-day operations of the airport are scheduled to begin in December 2025. Flight tickets for sale by prominent airlines, including IndiGo, Akasa Air, and Air India Express, will begin at the end of October. Arun Bansal, the CEO of Adani Airports Holdings Limited, states, “Post inauguration, the airport will be handed over to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) for a security sweep, which could take 30 to 45 days. We also need to mobilise customs and immigration teams and complete end-to-end testing, which is a 45-60-day process.”
What are the airport’s amenities and capacity?
This state-of-the-art airport encompasses a futuristic architectural design with several amenities, including the Automated People Mover System, Water Taxis, a Gold Line Metro, and an AI-Driven surveillance system. With the development of the project to be inaugurated in several phases, phase 1 of the project is equipped to handle twenty million passengers and approximately 0.8 million tonnes of cargo. Post completion, the scale of the airport will rise to match ninety million passengers and oversee 3.2 million metric tonnes of cargo annually. The airport further holds two runways and four terminals, all connected through an integrated system.
What does the airport look like?
Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, the airport’s design is inspired by India’s national flower, the Lotus. The floating steel and glass roof of the terminal is supported by petal-like columns that balance symbolism with an impressive feat of engineering. Keeping functionality in mind, the airport further stands as a splendid architectural landmark.
India’s first fully digital airport
The NMIA in-house app will make travelling easier by facilitating pre-booking of vehicle parking slots, plus online baggage drop-off booking and immigration services. Named an ‘anxiety-free’ airport, Arun Bansal, further states, “You will be able to get a message on your phone telling you, for example, that your bag is number 20 on the carousel.” These amenities are set to be implemented in due course in five phases.