Navi Mumbai airport to be operational in next 5 years
Civil Aviation minister Jayant Sinha on Wednesday said the Navi Mumbai airport will take at least four to five years to become operational. Meanwhile, the ministry will try to enhance the current airport's capacity. Speaking at the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation summit, the minister said, "Mumbai, with its single runway and saturation of slots, remains the single-most bottleneck for civil aviation in India."
New airport's first phase will have 10million per annum capacity
Sinha didn't provide any details on the enhancement of the current airport. Reports said that the Mumbai airport has already crossed its capacity of 40 million passengers last year. Claiming the new airport will be operational by 2021, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) said that the first phase of Navi Mumbai airport will have the capacity of 10 million per annum.
Domestic airlines need to expand fleets: Jayant Sinha
To fulfill the demand for domestic travel, Sinha said that two factors need to be considered, "Airlines inducting aircraft to expand fleets and availability of slots at major airports like Mumbai and Delhi." The minister also spoke on the government's efforts to boost aviation. He said, "Six to eight helicopters will also be flying under regional connectivity scheme to link smaller cities soon."
