The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is expected to grant an aerodrome licence to Navi Mumbai international airport (NMIA), being built by the Adani Group, by the end of August. Full commercial operations at the greenfield airport are expected to commence from mid-November, top officials of Adani Airports Holdings (AAHL) said.
The licence is a crucial step in the process for the airport to start operations. AAHL had filed the application in this respect some months ago. Officials of the aviation regulator conducted an inspection around mid-July and the final inspection will be done once again in a few weeks, officials said.
Speaking to FE, AAHL CEO Arun Bansal said, “Post the inauguration, it will take 45 days to start commercial operations; that is mid-November. The airport will have to be handed over to the CISF for security. We will start with domestic and international operations at one go.”
Passenger traffic to touch 20 million in six months
Within six months from the start of operations, the new airport is expected to hit a run rate of 20 million passengers, which is its installed capacity. As demand is expected to go even higher from thereon, AAHL has started with the next phase of the project which will treble the capacity to 60 million per annum.
“We realised that in 2026-27 Phase 1 capacity will be achieved. The initial plan was to have 30 million capacity from both the phases. But considering the demand forecast, we have increased the capacity to 40 million for the next phase taking the total to 60 million which can be stretched to 65 million also,” Bansal added.
With the actual construction of the next phase expected to begin 3-6 months after the start of commercial operations of Phase 1, AAHL hopes to finish work by 2029. The next phase involves the second runway, the second terminal building, automated people mover (APMs) connecting T1 and T2, and the metro.
Rs 50,000 crore total investment; CSMIA T1 demolition delayed
“The investment for Phase 1 is Rs 20,000 crore including a lot of enabling work for Phase 2 like rock blasting and ground filling. Since we are talking about 40 million capacity, it needs a larger capex. By the end of the next phase the total investment in the project will be close to Rs 50,000 crore,” Bansal said.
AAHL has decided to delay the dismantling of the T1 (domestic) terminal at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) to coincide with the inauguration of the next phase of the Navi Mumbai airport to avoid overcrowding at T2 of CSMIA.
“Some parts of T1 are already shut down because we cannot compromise on the structural safety. We will time the full demolition of T1 with the inauguration of T2 at NMIA which will open mid-2029. By 2032 we are hoping to restart T1 at CSMIA,” Bansal added.
Though CSMIA and NMIA are separated by 40 kms, both the airports help in easing of operations and synchronisation. By 2032, both the airports will have a total capacity of 120 million per annum, making it one of the largest airport centres in the world.