MUMBAI'S NEW GATEWAY

India's financial capital is ready for a twin-airport future

- BY NACHIKET KELKAR

As you fly into Mumbai, you are greeted by expansive slums at one end of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) runway, and the crowded city jostling for space at the other. Despite the airport's central location, accessing it means getting stuck in lengthy traffic jams, as the surrounding roads are among the busiest in the city, regardless of the time of day.

That may soon change, as Mumbai is getting a new airport in Navi Mumbai. Once ready, it will be significantly larger than CSMIA and will offer multi-modal connectivity.

Most megacities have multiple airports. London, for instance, has Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick, Luton and City airports. New York has three major airports, and Tokyo has two.

CSMIA is the world's busiest single-runway airport. It has two terminals and two runways, but as the runways intersect, only one can operate at a time.

When the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) is complete, it will feature four passenger terminals and two operational runways, along with dedicated general aviation and air cargo terminals. “The existing airport is operating at full capacity and cannot be expanded—you can’t extend the runway into the water, nor reclaim land. So, building another airport was the only solution,” said an airline industry expert.

The idea of a new airport was conceived in the late 1990s. The bidding took place in 2017, and the project was awarded to Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), owned by GVK. Gautam Adani's Adani Airport Holdings took over MIAL in April 2021, thereby taking control of NMIA.