The Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) commenced commercial flight operations on Thursday, with the first flight from Bengaluru, operated by IndiGo, touching down the runway at 8 am.
The aircraft was accorded a ceremonial water cannon salute on arrival, a time-honoured aviation tradition.
With its first commercial touchdown and departure, the NMIA marks a historic chapter in India’s civil aviation history with expanded air travel capacity for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 8 this year.
The inaugural arrival was followed by the airport’s first departure of another IndiGo flight, the 6E882 that flew to Hyderabad at 08.40 am, completing NMIA’s inaugural arrival and departure cycles, said a statement by the airport authorities.
On the first day, IndiGo, Air India Express, Akasa Air and Star Air will operate domestic services, connecting the new facility to nine destinations across India.
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The airport will handle 15 scheduled departures on the first day, as per released flight schedule. During the initial phase, the facility will operate for 12 hours – between 8 am and 8 pm, with up to 24 scheduled daily departures to 13 destinations and the capability to manage up to 10 aircraft movements (arrivals and departures) per hour, it added.
The five-phased airport, whose first phase was built at ₹19,650 crore, will cater to 90 million passengers annually, along with dedicated cargo terminals and multimodal connectivity.
The entire project is being developed in multiple phases under a special purpose vehicle, Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd (NMIAL), in which the Adani Group has a 74 per cent stake, and the remaining 26 per cent is owned by CIDCO.
From February next year, operations are planned to progressively scale up to round-the-clock services.
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