The Centre has approved the much-delayed Navi Mumbai airport. Aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju recently gave the go-ahead for inviting tenders and also cleared a proposal for airlines to hold 26% stake. In giving the nod, the Centre has stressed on high-speed connectivity between the proposed airport and the existing one in Mumbai. “There will be a lot of transfer of traffic. Unless connectivity is quick, the other airport may not be viable,” said a senior ministry official.
Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) will have a maximum passenger handling capacity of five crore per annum once the domestic arm of the new terminal II is built by next year. This will not be sufficient as Mumbai’s air traffic movement touched 3.3 crore last year.
Though CSIA will prove inadequate for Mumbai’s air traffic requirement within three years, the Navi Mumbai airport will be far from complete by then. “The last government terribly messed up on the Navi Mumbai airport matter. Mumbai is already losing out in terms of global connectivity as there is a limit to what the cross runways (of CSIA) can handle aircraft movement. Airlines don’t get desired slots,” said an airline official.
The aviation ministry has asked that big airports in future have three terminals—one each for full service airlines and an ultra-luxury one for business jets.
Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) will have a maximum passenger handling capacity of five crore per annum once the domestic arm of the new terminal II is built by next year. This will not be sufficient as Mumbai’s air traffic movement touched 3.3 crore last year.
Though CSIA will prove inadequate for Mumbai’s air traffic requirement within three years, the Navi Mumbai airport will be far from complete by then. “The last government terribly messed up on the Navi Mumbai airport matter. Mumbai is already losing out in terms of global connectivity as there is a limit to what the cross runways (of CSIA) can handle aircraft movement. Airlines don’t get desired slots,” said an airline official.
The aviation ministry has asked that big airports in future have three terminals—one each for full service airlines and an ultra-luxury one for business jets.
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