Navi Mumbai airport 94% ready: September-end flight likely; world's ‘fastest baggage claim system'

Time of India

3 days ago

NAVI MUMBAI/PUNE: Stating that 94% of the work on the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) was over, CM
Devendra Fadnavis
on Saturday said the remaining work should proceed in such a way that the first passenger flight can start operations by end of Sept.
He said airport authorities had been asked to increase the numerical strength of workers to meet this target. Along with the airport, the Mumbai-Pune Expressway 'missing link' project will help the state govt develop an economic corridor comprising Mumbai, Mumbai Metropolitan Region and Pune, he said.For the 'missing link' project too, though MSRDC has set a Dec 2025 deadline, the CM said he was hoping for completion in Oct-Nov.On his way to Pune by road, Fadnavis reviewed the progress of the airport and 'missing link' work with Dy CM Eknath Shinde.
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After reviewing progress at the under-constrction Navi Mumbai airport with Dy CM Eknath Shinde, CM Devendra Fadnavis said on Saturday the new airport would have the world's 'fastest baggage claim system'. The airport's initial phases will accommodate 20 million passengers and 0.8 mn metric tonnes of cargo annually from Sept 2025, he added. He expressed satisfaction that
PM Modi
, who performed the ground-breaking ceremony for the airport in 2018, will also inaugurate the facility in Sept.
He said, "Currently 13,000 to 14,000 workers are involved in the work daily, and we have asked authorities to increase their strength by one-and-a-half times or double by Sept 30, because other licences are complete, but for commercial operations, all work has to be finished."
On Oct 11, 2024, an IAF C-295 transport aircraft completed the inaugural landing at the airport. Subsequently, on Dec 29, 2024, an IndiGo Airlines Airbus A320 made the first commercial landing.
Connectivity to the airport is also a major focus, the CM said. "We have prepared a big connectivity plan. The linking of Atal Setu to Coastal Road is expected to be completed by March next year. From Thane, a direct elevated road has been suggested and that work will also start soon," he said.
Arrangements are being made for connecting the airport from four directions with all modes of transport, including suburban railway, metro or water transport, so that it will be easy for passengers to reach, he said.
On the 'missing link' project, Fadnavis said in Pune, "The Navi Mumbai airport is nearing completion and once the missing link gets ready, Pune residents will be able to reach Navi Mumbai airport in a little more than an hour. The missing link project will help them avoid 6 km of the expressway and save half an hour of travel time." The 'missing link' project – a 13.5 km tunnel-bridge-road section from under the Lonavla ghats – has missed three deadlines: July and Dec 2024 and July 2025.
The Rs 6,695 crore project is expected to cut travel time between Mumbai and Pune by half an hour by bypassing the congested ghat section. It aims to ease traffic, reduce accidents, improve fuel efficiency, and offer seamless connectivity between the two cities.
"While MSRDC set a Dec 2025 deadline, we are hoping for Oct-Nov completion," Fadnavis said.
When the other planned or under-construction augmentation projects such as Chowk (Pune-Eway)-Pagote (JNPT) 30 km road, Sewri-Worli connector and smaller flyovers towards the expressway are completed, travel time between the two cities will reduce by an hour.
Eighty-five per cent of the Expressway's current traffic is projected to use the new route.
At the site after reviewing the 'missing link' project, Fadnavis described it as an engineering marvel, noting that it features India's longest road tunnel and highest cable-stayed road bridge under construction over the scenic Tiger Valley.
"Pune is the cultural capital of the state, but now it has also developed as the manufacturing and technology capital. Therefore, these projects are important for all of Maharashtra," the CM said.
Shinde called the project a "game-changer." - With inputs from agencies