(MENAFN- Live Mint)

Mumbai: Nearly three decades in the making, the Navi Mumbai International Airport is finally set to open to passengers later this year, offering much-needed relief to Mumbai's congested Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA).

The new airport, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, is about 44 kilometres from CSMIA, a drive that can take nearly two hours.

Though details on routes and ticketing are still awaited, India's top carriers have already lined up initial schedules. Indigo has planned 18 daily departures, Air India has planned 20 daily departures, and Akasa has planned 14 daily departures, according to company statements.

For now, flights will operate between 8 am and 8 pm. International services are expected once night operations are cleared. In a bid to attract global carriers, the airport operator has waived parking fees for international airlines for the first year, a concession not extended to domestic players.

Navi Mumbai will open with a capacity of 20 million passengers annually, scaling up to 90 million once all four terminals and two parallel runways are completed.

By comparison, Delhi Airport handles 109 million passengers a year with four runways. Mumbai's CSMIA manages 55 million with two intersecting runways. Noida International Airport (Jewar), another greenfield project to be inaugurated this month, will begin with a capacity of 12 million on one runway and one terminal.

The first terminal of Navi Mumbai Airport has cost ₹19,464 crore, with the Adani Group, its developer and operator, planning an additional ₹30,000 crore investment for the second terminal by 2029.

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The Noida International Airport at Jewar , another recent greenfield project, is being developed by Yamuna International Airport Private Ltd at a cost of over ₹10,050 crore. Yamuna International Airport is a 100% subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG and operates in close partnership with the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government.

The greenfield Mopa Airport in Goa, inaugurated in December 2022, was developed at an approximate cost of ₹2,870 crore.

Delhi International Airport's recent expansion by the GMR Group, which cost ₹20,000 crore, was completed in July 2023.

Distance dilemma

The biggest challenge for Navi Mumbai airport could be its location. For example, Mumbai's densely populated western suburb is far from the airport.

From Borivali, Mumbai's Terminal 1 is about 18 km away, roughly 49 minutes in evening traffic. In comparison, Navi Mumbai Airport is approximately 54 kilometres away, taking nearly 142 minutes.

From Bandra (West), CSMIA's Terminal 1 is 6.5 km away and 37 minutes during rush hour, while Navi Mumbai Airport is 43 km away and takes about 94 minutes.

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Incorporated in 2019, Adani Airports Holdings Ltd (AAHL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Adani Enterprises, is India's largest private airport operator, managing seven airports apart from Navi Mumbai. One in every four Indian air passengers now flies through an Adani-managed airport.

In FY25, the group's airport business saw a 27% jump in income to ₹8,062 crore, while Ebitda rose 43% to ₹3,480 crore. The vertical accounted for 10% of Adani Enterprises' consolidated revenue and 21% of Ebitda.

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