A DGCA official said the aerodrome licence application would be submitted on either March 5 or 6
The Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) is likely to commence operations in May, with its operator, Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL), preparing to submit an application for the mandatory aerodrome licence to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) next month.
On Tuesday, officials from the DGCA, Airports Authority of India (AAI), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), AAHL, and City Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (Cidco) held a stakeholders’ meeting to review the airport’s preparedness. This was the second such meeting focused on regulatory approvals for the greenfield airport.
A DGCA official said the aerodrome licence application would be submitted on either March 5 or 6. “The likely date that the airport will be opened is May 15,” the official said, adding that the regulatory body was satisfied with the current progress. However, BCAS raised some security-related concerns, and the airport operator has committed to addressing them with a detailed plan.
The aerodrome licence is a key certification that confirms an airport meets the safety, operational, and infrastructural standards required for commercial air transport operations.
The Navi Mumbai airport is a joint venture between AAHL and Cidco. Once fully operational, it is expected to become the second-largest airport in India, with a projected capacity to handle 90 million passengers annually by 2031-32. The airport’s first phase will have an initial capacity of 20 million passengers per year, gradually expanding to four passenger terminals and two parallel runways.
The airport’s inauguration has been postponed multiple times, with earlier deadlines set for December 2024, March, and April. The new facility is expected to alleviate passenger pressure from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai, which will soon undergo a three to four-year redevelopment phase. Both airports are managed by the Adani Group.
Flight validation tests at NMIA began in December 2024, when an IndiGo A320 became the first commercial aircraft to successfully land at the airport, following assessments of air traffic control systems and aircraft handling procedures.
Once all phases are completed, NMIA will also have the capacity to handle 2.6 million tonnes of cargo per year, significantly bolstering the region’s aviation infrastructure.
