Navi Mumbai airport successfully conducts trial landing of IAF aircraft

The upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport successfully conducted the trial landing of an Indian Air Force C-295 aircraft on Friday, October 11. The trial also included a flypast by a Sukhoi-30 fighter jet.

The Indian Air Force transport aircraft C-295 landed at the southern runway 26 of the airport at 12.14 pm, according to the airport operator.

The trial landing was witnessed by Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, along with many other MPs and MLAs.

The first phase of the airport, being developed jointly by the Adani Group and City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), is expected to be finished by March 2025, according to a report by the Hindustan Times (HT).

The aircraft touched down on the newly constructed 3,700-metre runway. According to officials, 75% of the terminal building has already been completed, the HT report added.

"The airport should be fully operational for domestic flights by March 2025, with international services expected to commence within the following five to six months," HT quoted a spokesperson for the project.

Jeet Adani, son of Gautam Adani and Director of Adani Airports, said that this is a historic moment for Navi Mumbai.

When completed, Navi Mumbai International Airport will become the second airport of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, after the existing Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. The airport is expected to improve connectivity with Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Kalyan, and western Maharashtra.

The Navi Mumbai airport facility will sprawl across 1,200 hectares and is designed to accommodate four terminals as well as two runways.

Once it is fully operational, it will have the capacity to have 90 million passengers onboard annually. Additionally, it will provide parking facilities for 350 aircraft and would have the capacity to handle 2.6 million tonnes of cargo.

The initial phases of Terminal 1 are expected to have a capacity of 20 million passengers and 0.8 million tonnes of cargo, the report mentioned.