Navi Mumbai Airport to be functional from next FY; conducts commercial flight test

Mumbai: The future Navi Mumbai International Airport is likely to open in early next fiscal year, with an inauguration date of April 17, according to a senior Adani Group executive. 

Earlier today, an IndiGo A320 passenger aircraft successfully landed on runway 26/08 of the under-construction Navi Mumbai International Airport, easing the way for the airport to obtain an aerodrome licence and begin commercial operations.

"Our ambition is to do the commercial inauguration of the airport by April 17," Adani Airport Holdings Ltd CEO Arun Bansal told media after the successful trial landing of the first civil passenger aircraft, PTI reported.

Bansal said that the domestic operations will start from the second half of May as after the inaugural flight some procedures will have to be followed which will take about four weeks.

And by the end of July, he said, "we expect to start international operations." Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMAI) took a further step toward becoming operational with its first commercial flight validation test, with the successful touchdown at 1.32 pm at runway 26/08, it said.

The aircraft was welcomed with the traditional water salute by two Crash Fire Tenders (CFT) of NMIA.

"This is a momentous day for Navi Mumbai International Airport. The successful completion of the validation flight is a major milestone, and we are now one step closer to operationalising the airport, prioritising safety at every step," said Bansal.

The touchdown of a commercial aircraft validates and establishes the synchronised functioning of Instrument Approach Procedures at NMIA.

The exercise includes technical assessment, landing and take-off manoeuvres, paving the way for the DGCA to validate the data collected from the flight and for NMIA to receive the aerodrome license, which is essential to operate the airport.

Post the successful landing, NMIA's established flight procedures will be published in the Electronic Aeronautical Information Publication (eAIP) for international promulgation.

Prior to the landing of the validation flight, NMIA successfully conducted the flight calibration of the Instrument Landing System (ILS) and Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI), subsequently drafting instrument approach procedures to prepare itself for the arrival of the validation flight.