City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Vijay Singhal, at a recent press conference, stated that the total passenger capacity of Navi Mumbai International Airport would be 90 million passengers per annum (MPPA) once it is fully operational with four fully functional terminals by 2036. With such high capacity, the airport would carry almost the same number of passengers as London’s Heathrow airport, which is more than 80 MPPA.
Once fully operational, the Navi Mumbai International Airport and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport are expected to carry about 150 MPPA, providing a vast network of flights to passengers from both airports. This development finally puts the financial capital of India at par with cities like New York, London, Paris, Tokyo and so on, all of which have twin airports to manage high traffic.
Due to the size of NMIA, Singhal also mentioned that the airport would have automatic people movers from Terminal 3 of the airport, which is scheduled to open by 2032, to ease the passengers’ burden of moving about the vast interior of the facility.
The airport is also one of the most unique, with a multimodal transport system of road, rail, and waterways being planned. Singhal added at the conference that the Detailed Project Report for the Metro Line 8 (Gold Line) between CSMIA and NMIA had been sent to the state government, and approval from the cabinet was expected in two weeks.
mid-day’s test drive in the last week of September determined that the least amount of time it takes to travel between CSMT and NMIA via the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (Atal Setu) or the Harbour (railway) line is 90 minutes during non-peak hours and costs between R150 and R1500, depending on the mode of transport and time of day.
“Terminal 1 of the NMIA is 100 per cent ready for commencing operations, and minor detailing work is in progress,” said Singhal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to land at the Navi Mumbai International Airport around 2.40 pm on Wednesday for the inauguration, which would be followed by a tour of the completed facilities of the terminal.
Timeline for setting up nmia terminals
2029 T2 completion
2032 T3 completion
2035-36 Entire project
Other developments
>> Detailed Project Report for Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area is underway
>> Educity – Five foreign universities have signed an MoU with the state government
>> Medicity planned
>> Port city planned
