Airport to be ready by Mar ’25, govt completes projects before time: CM

Mumbai: The Navi Mumbai airport is expected to be ready before March 2025, said chief minister Eknath Shinde at the IAF flight inauguration event held at the site of Navi Mumbai airport on Friday. Shinde said his govt completes projects ahead of time, and the Navi Mumbai airport will also be ready for commercial flights before March.
Earlier this year, former civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia set a March 31, 2025, deadline for the airport.Aviation sources said meeting the March-end deadline for the start of commercial flight operations would be a tough call. While the runway is almost ready for commercial flights, work on construction of the terminal building is currently on and the facade is not complete.
Shinde expressed his expectation that the Navi Mumbai airport will become the largest in India. He said Mumbai and Navi Mumbai airports will be linked by a Metro line in addition to road connectivity. Referring to the Sukhoi aircraft that performed a low flypast, Shinde said, like the fighter aircraft, he is ready as well, "for flight and fight".
The IAF aircraft's inaugural landing was met with criticism from the Opposition. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray posted on X: "The airport is under construction and not yet ready. This stunt-baazi must stop, as this costs the Indian Air Force its time and taxpayers' money. Airforce planes are meant to land in such conditions. This is a civilian airport and will only be considered ready after it's ready for passenger traffic, with terminals. What was the need to do this stunt?"
The airport has missed several deadlines. Before the March 2025 deadline, former CM Devendra Fadnavis had set one for Dec 2019 for the airport.
Mumbai airport handles close to 1,000 flights in 24 hours. Earlier this year, the civil aviation ministry curtailed peak-hour flight operations due to the poor punctuality levels caused by severe air traffic.tnn