Mumbai: The Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) will commence operations with around 8 to 10 air traffic movements (ATMs) every hour and will gradually scale up to 30 ATMs by the summer of 2026 as the airport authorities expect to see peak traffic of the first phase by then.
NMIA, in its initial phase, is expected to handle 20 million passengers and 0.5 MMT of cargo per annum, with the capacity to serve 90 million passengers and 3.2 MMT of cargo per annum, once complete. While the date of the commencement of operations at Mumbai Metropolitan Region’s second airport has not been announced yet, airlines like IndiGo and Akasa Air have already announced their operations from the airport.
On Wednesday, NMIA’s chief executive officer Captain BVJK Sharma announced at the Inter Terminal Passenger Show organised in Mumbai by Media Fusion that the greenfield airport will start operations with only 8-10 ATMs every hour, equally distributed between departures and arrivals. He said that while the capacity of each of the runways is 45 ATMs, the operations would be commenced with minimum movements as per the directions from aviation authorities.
The airport authorities are planning to gradually scale up the operations by winter to reach their target of 30 ATMs during peak hours by summer. While he mentioned that Air India is in talks to operate 90 to 95 weekly flights from NMIA, he said that the peak hour slots would be mutually discussed with the airlines.
Talking to The Free Press Journal, Capt Sharma said, “The demand of NMIA is exceeding my capacity but the authorities have suggested to begin with only 8 to 10 ATMs during the monsoon season and also allow pilots to get accustomed to it. We are hopeful to achieve the target of 20 million annual customers if the operations continue as planned.”
Captain Sharma also announced that the pre-construction, including excavation, of the second terminal will begin in October this year and will be completed by October 2029, which will handle 30-35 million additional passengers annually. The airport authorities have already started the work for the onboarding of an architect for the construction of Terminal 2, a new air traffic control and other landside developments.
“We are also working extensively on passenger experience from security checking to boarding and also reduce their anxiety with multiple experiences and all the technologies available at the airport. We are also in talks with the authorities if physical checking can be avoided and replaced with full body scanners to enhance their experience,” he added.
