For first-time visitors, landing in Mumbai, India’s financial capital, could be a big experience.
As we approached, the metropolis emerged as we flew across the Arabian Sea and over the mangrove swamps – packed with railroad tracks, towering skyscrapers and dense residences of Asia’s largest Shantytown, close to the walls around the airport.
Aviation experts have been in the middle of this urban environment for years, marking the dangers and inefficiency of operating overworked airports, buildings hinder flight paths, safety and operational restrictions, preventing pilots from using intersecting runways at once.
However, a long overdue alternative was finally available.
After numerous delays and obstacles, the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) will soon be inaugurated and is expected to begin operations in the coming months.
Arun Bansal, CEO of operating company Adani Airport Holdings Limited, told the BBC that the airport will “greatly alleviate traffic congestion”.
Mr Bansal said: “The current airport hits a capacity of 55 million passengers a year. There are already an additional 20 million demands and we will achieve this in Navi Mumbai.”
Although many connectivity, integration and policy-related barriers still need to be eliminated, the opening of airports will become an important new chapter in India’s aviation ambitions.
The current airport has reached a peak capacity of 55 million passengers per year [Getty Images]
Covering an area of 1,100 hectares, about 40 kilometers (24 miles) from the old commercial center of Mumbai, the sprawling new airport connects India’s longest sea bridge to the island city. It has two parallel runways, followed by a phase of expansion that will eventually handle 90 million passengers per year.
“NMIA will make Mumbai the first major Indian city to operate two airports, indicating the increasing importance of India as an aviation market with rapid passenger and air traffic,” said Shukor Yusof, Singapore-based Enadu Analytics.
Over the past four years, the industry has grown by double digits – surpassing most other regions in the world. Air India has placed orders for about 1,900 new aircraft and is expected to deliver a thousand over the next five years, making this infrastructure crucial and crucial to accommodating this new fleet.
Adani said NMIA will be the first fully digital airport in India to be “specially designed and developed to be a hub airport”, which has advanced technology for check-in, security, luggage and boarding, which greatly reduces turnover time and facilitates easy transmission.
It has announced a partnership with India’s largest and latest airlines, Indigo and Akasa Airlines, which is launching new routes. Air India has pledged to fly from the airport to 15 cities, gradually expanding operations, including flights to international destinations.
Given how Mumbai’s current airports achieve capacity, analysts expect NMIA to absorb strongly from parking spaces that are seeking to launch new routes.
However, as operations begin in the coming months, major challenges are expected.
NMIA will operate two parallel runways [Adani Airport Holdings Limited]
Given how far the airport is, its location can cause great inconvenience to passengers – whether it is to fly to and from the NMIA, especially when using it for connecting flights.
It can easily take two to three hours to get to the airport from certain suburbs of Mumbai.
In a few years, a direct 20-minute subway line between the old and the new ones may become a reality. During this period, NMIA plans to regularly provide electric buses for connected passengers.
“This is not ideal,” said Alok Anand, an aviation consultant based in Bangalore.
“Until the last mile of connection is fixed, I wouldn’t have foreseeed anyone landing at one airport and heading to another to catch another flight,” Anand said.
That may be why both existing and new airports will handle domestic and international traffic at the moment, although overseas flights may only fly from the NMIA when connectivity improves in the long run.
The direct subway line between the old and the new airport will only be practical in a few years [Getty Images]
Connectivity and regulatory issues could also be the ambition of NMIA making Mumbai an international hub like Singapore or Dubai – where flights come from various destinations and connect passengers to routes around the world.
While the NMIA, as well as some other airports in cities such as Hyderabad and Bangalore, are technically advanced and compete with the best airports in the world, India still needs to modify its policies to promote smooth transfers, which is the key to becoming a hub and for experts.
“For example, to move from domestic to international terminals to international terminals, security checks are required, which are not required at most major global airports.”
Mr Awtaney added: “In addition, we need to reevaluate our safety practices to improve the efficiency of passenger throughput. We have much more contact rates at airports than other airports that transition to body scanners.”
Mr Bansal agreed that many of these need to be in place before Mumbai’s aviation profile is raised to global standards.
He said changes in regulations also need to be accompanied by airlines’ willingness to expand their choice of long-distance destinations. Operators must also optimize their fleet strategies and links to be able to take advantage of the strategic location advantages of the city between Europe, the United States and Asia.
Currently, the NMIA solves the city’s direct problem – acute air traffic congestion.
It will also serve as a larger catchment area that can extend all the way to the neighboring city of Pune, a professional IT and education hub.
“Some of the major cities around the world, such as New York, London, Dubai and Tokyo, all operate at two to three airports. Mumbai will join this selected club,” Mr Awtaney said.
Delhi will also be opening its third airport in the coming months to serve the capital’s satellite areas.
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