Navi Mumbai, Dec 29 Ahead of its commercial launch in early 2025, the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), on Sunday, carried out its first commercial flight validation test as an A320 aircraft from Indigo Airlines successfully touched down on the runway.
The flying test on the runway 08/26 was supervised by senior officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Airports Authority of India (AAI), Customs, Immigration, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (CIDCO), India Meteorological Department (IMD), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), as well as Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL) and other key stakeholders.
“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. We are grateful to the DGCA and all the agencies involved in making the validation flight trial successful. NMIA will not only offer world-class aviation facilities, it will also enable the overall development of the region,” said Arun Bansal, Chief Executive Officer, Adani Airport Holdings Limited.
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, reads the release issued by the Navi Mumbai International Airport Private Limited (NMIAL) which is a special purpose vehicle established for the development, construction, operation, and maintenance of the greenfield international airport project at Navi Mumbai.
NMIAL is part of Adani Airports Holdings Limited and is owned by Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) (74 per cent shareholding) and CIDCO (26 per cent shareholding). The CIDCO, a Government of Maharashtra undertaking is also the Concessioning Authority for the project.
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.
On October 11, the inaugural landing of an Indian Air Force C-295, a large multi-role tactical airlifter, took place, representing a significant milestone in the development of the Greenfield International Airport. The airport is spread across 1,160 hectares of land and is located approximately 35 km from Mumbai Airport.
According to CIDCO, the cost of NMIA is Rs 16,700 crore. In August, the Airport Authority of India completed Instrument Landing System (ILS) testing which calibrates the flight path to ensure the operational readiness of the airport.
NMIAL said the project is proposed to be developed in multiple phases; once complete the airport will have the capacity to manage over 90 million passengers per annum (MPPA). In the initial phase, NMIAL is implementing a passenger capacity of 20 MPPA and 8,00,000 tons per annum of cargo handling capacity.
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