Preparations at Navi Mumbai Airport reviewed ahead of commissioning

Navi Mumbai: In the run up to the commissioning of the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd (CIDCO) and Adani Group held an extensive review of the preparations to ensure that Airside, Landside and Terminal building are ready in all respects.

The NMIA, with a planned capacity of 90 million passengers and 3.2 million tonnes of cargo per annum, is set to commence Phase 1 operations with a capacity of 20 Million passengers and 0.8 million tonnes of cargo per annum.

In the current phase, the airport will have a Code F runway with double parallel taxiways and one Terminal (T1), cargo terminals and several other supporting infrastructure.

The review meeting was presided over by Vijay Singh, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, CIDCO.

Among those present in the meeting were Shantanu Goel, Joint Managing Director, Geetha Pillai , Chief General Manager ( Transport & Airport), Jeet Adani, Director-Airports, Adani Group, Malay Malay Mahadevia, Director, Adani Group, BVJK Sharma, CEO, NMIAL and N Namachivayam, Vice President & Head of Operations, L&T.

“Since the Airport Information Publication (AIP) for NMIA has been published and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) inspections are ongoing for issue of Aerodrome License, the review was specifically focused on completing the Airside, Landside and Terminal building in all respects in preparation for inauguration and commercial operations of the airport , to understand any challenges and to mitigate any delay in achieving the targets,” CIDCO officials said.

The concessionaire assured that all efforts are being put in for such timely completion, they added.

The NMIAL has confirmed that airside works are 100% complete and the processes for obtaining Aerodrome License from DGCA and Security Clearance from Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) are progressing well and no challenges are foreseen on that front.

The Operation Readiness and Transfer (ORAT) testing is also regularly going on for ensuring seamless operations.

“Several airlines have applied for slots at the new airport and the DGCA committee will be finalizing the slots very soon,” the officials added.

Singhal also reviewed preparation for connectivity to provide the Landside access to the Airport, which is being developed by National High Authority of India and CIDCO, and directed all concerned to ensure readiness of the same well before the proposed inauguration date.