The Indian Air Force on Friday made the first landing at the greenfield Navi Mumbai International Airport. An Airbus C-295 military transport aircraft touched down on the brand-new runway of the new airport at 12.15 pm on 11th October, marking the operational inauguration of the airport being built by Adani Airport and CIDC.
Following the landing of the C-295 aircraft, a Sukhoi SU-30 of the IAF performed a low flypast over the runway.
The trial landing of the military aircraft was witnessed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, along with several MPs and MLAs and other dignitaries.
Jeet Adani, Director of Adani Airports, called it a historic moment for Navi Mumbai. He tweeted, “. This marks the dawn of a new era in Indian aviation, where the sky is no longer the limit.” He also thanked Indian Air Force for the support.
A historic moment for Navi Mumbai as we celebrate the first landing on the new airport with the Indian Air Force’s C-295! Grateful for the support of @IAF_MCC , including a stunning low pass by the Su-30. This marks the dawn of a new era in Indian aviation, where the sky is no… pic.twitter.com/gxdJma94Ed
— Jeet Adani (@jeet_adani1) October 11, 2024
The phase 1 of the project is expected to be completed by March 2025, after which commercial operations will begin. The 3,700-metre-long runway 26 is now complete, marking a crucial milestone in the development of the airport. As per officials, 75% of the terminal building has already been constructed, and everything for phase 1 will be completed by March next year.
The Phase 1 of the project includes a single runway and a terminal building, with the capacity of handling 2 crore passengers a year. The 2 lakh square metre T1 is being designed as per LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold standards.
After completion of the complete airport, it will have 2 runways and four terminals. It will be able to handle 9 crore passengers annually, provide parking facilities for 350 aircraft, and handle 26 lakh tonnes of cargo.
Navi Mumbai International Airport will become the second airport for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, and it is being jointly developed by City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) and Adani Airports through a public–private partnership (PPP) model on a Design, Build, Finance, Operate, and Transfer (DBFOT) basis. The airport will be built in three phases.
A consortium led by GVK Airport Developers Ltd won the bid to develop the airport in February 2017. In September 2020, Adani Group bought out GVK’s stake in the airport. The architect of the terminal buildings is Zaha Hadid Architects, while Larsen & Toubro is the contractor for civil construction.
