The first international flight from the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) is expected to take off sometime in November-December this year, despite the airport's inauguration on October 8 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after several false starts.
#WATCH | Mumbai | On PM Modi to inaugurate Navi Mumbai Airport, CIDCO Vice Chairman & Managing Director Vijay Singhal says, "The second airport of Navi Mumbai International Airport will be inaugurated by our PM Modi on October 8. He will land at Navi Mumbai International Airport… pic.twitter.com/kSTDazo6V1
— ANI (@ANI) October 4, 2025
This is because after the inauguration, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will take 45-60 days to deploy security arrangements here. This includes installing and testing security equipment, screening machines, metal detectors, and security protocols.
A Loksatta report also points out that in a few years, the airport will be connected to Mumbai via road (Atal Setu, or Mumbai's trans harbour link), water (proposed water taxi connection), metro (proposed Metro Line 8, also called the Gold Line), and rail (proposed Mumbai-Hyderabad bullet train project).
Spanning an area of 1,160 hectares (2866.4 acres), Mumbai Metropolitan Region's second airport is expected to open in five phases.
#NaviMumbaiAirport carried out a Departure Trial as part of the #ORAT (Operational Readiness and Airport Transfer) programme, an important step in assessing operational preparedness.
The simulation involved cross-functional stakeholders working together to test key processes… pic.twitter.com/tI3O7B0Tcd
— Navi Mumbai International Airport (@navimumairport) July 8, 2025
The first phase will begin with one runway and a terminal building to facilitate 20 million passengers annually. By the fifth phase, it will feature four terminals and two runways, handling a combined capacity (with Mumbai's other airport) of 155 million passengers per year.
The airport project—jointly owned by Adani Airport Holdings (74 per cent) and CIDCO (26 per cent)—is also expected to generate 2 lakh jobs across various sectors, a Moneycontrol report said.
However, netizens have also highlighted concerns with the airport's inauguration being rushed.
"Just like many other projects, forced inauguration leading to shoddy work and waste of taxpayers' money," a Redditor wrote.
Comment
byu/Legion7k from discussion
inmumbai
"Not saying the airport is bad but there’s not enough planning for someone staying in northern suburbs and beyond," another Redditor pointed out.
Comment
byu/GroundbreakingBad183 from discussion
inmumbai |
