How Navi Mumbai airport is set to chart a new path for Mumbai's air travel journey

Navi Mumbai International Airport

Mumbai’s long wait for a second airport will end this December, when the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) begins operations following its ceremonial inauguration on October 8. The launch will end the city’s distinction, shared only with Dhaka, of being one of the world’s top ten most populated cities served by a single airport and single runway, according to the report by The Times of India.

Developed by Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd, a joint venture between Adani Airport Holdings and CIDCO, the airport is spread over 1,160 hectares at Panvel, the report said. It will begin with one runway and a terminal capable of handling 20 million passengers annually. It further said that over the next decade, it will expand with two parallel runways and four terminals, reaching a capacity of 90 million passengers per year by 2036.

Mumbai’s current Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) handles about 55 million passengers a year but cannot grow further. Despite having two runways, their intersection limits operations to one at a time. On peak days, the airport manages more than 1,000 flights in 24 hours, well above its designed capacity. By 2030, both airports are expected to handle 50-60 million passengers each, but Navi Mumbai is expected to eventually overtake CSMIA to become the main gateway for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region by 2035, the report said.

While Mumbai’s second airport will gradually replace its first, Delhi’s aviation model will evolve differently. The Noida International Airport (NIA) at Jewar, developed by Yamuna International Airport Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Zurich Airport AG in partnership with the Uttar Pradesh government, will complement, not compete with, Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI), the report said. The new facility, set to be inaugurated on October 30 and operational by mid-December, covers 1,334 hectares in its first phase and will eventually expand to 5,000 hectares.

Navi Mumbai will start with one runway and grow to four terminals with 90 million passengers annually by 2036, while Noida will have one runway and a 12-million-passenger capacity in Phase One, expanding to 70 million at full build-out. Unlike Mumbai, where the new airport will take over the older one, Delhi’s IGI will remain the main hub, with Noida acting as a major secondary airport to absorb future growth.

By 2035-2040, India’s busiest airports are projected to be Delhi-IGI (100 million passengers), Navi Mumbai (90 million), and Noida-Jewar (70 million), marking a decisive shift in India’s aviation infrastructure, the report said.