Fly out of ‘fully digital’ Navi Mumbai airport from Dec

Commercial operations at the 1,160-hectare airport will take off in December, following the inauguration on October 8 and a 45–60 day period for security sweeps, customs, immigration, and end-to-end testing

NAVI MUMBAI: The Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), set for inauguration on October 8, will be India’s first fully digital airport, with facilities for pre-booking vehicle parking slots and online check-in, baggage drop and immigration services, chief executive officer (CEO) of Adani Airports Holdings Ltd (AAHL) Arun Bansal said during an interaction with journalists on Monday.

Fly out of ‘fully digital’ Navi Mumbai airport from Dec

“Queuing time monitors will tell passengers how long they need to wait, while virtual queuing will allow them to block a slot and head straight to security when their turn arrives,” he said.

Commercial operations at the 1,160-hectare airport will take off in December, following the inauguration on October 8 and a 45–60 day period for security sweeps, customs, immigration, and end-to-end testing, Bansal said.

“There is a pent-up demand of 15–20 million passengers and we will do everything to capture traffic,” the CEO said. “Mumbai is the financial capital, and unlike Delhi, which grew because there was no other option, here we will have two runways and the ability to retain international passengers.”

Tapping demand

Several airlines have already expressed strong interest in operating flights from NMIA, while IndiGo, Air India, and Akasa have confirmed operations, officials said. Slot allocation is expected to saturate quickly at around 20 million passengers, underscoring the scale of demand in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), they added.

The airport will initially operate for 12 hours daily, from 8am to 8pm, with 8–10 aircraft movements per hour. “After the initial phase, ATC (air traffic control) will take a call on extending operations,” Bansal said.

Commercial operations will start in December with about 40% international traffic and eventually move towards 75%, in line with global hubs, Bansal said. The airport will host the country’s largest maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility, with five handlers onboarded, he noted.

“With Mumbai’s cargo infrastructure under strain, NMIA will absorb general aviation and cargo operations. The entire hangar from Mumbai airport will move here,” Bansal said.

The CEO clarified that terminal one of Mumbai airport will not be demolished immediately.

“It will continue to serve the city until at least 2029, and demolition will only be undertaken once the second terminal at NMIA is ready,” he said.

Passenger amenities

Bansal described NMIA as an “anxiety-free airport,” with automation and digital systems built in from day one. The airport will also feature paperless operations, kiosks to pre-order multiple items for single-point delivery, and food delivery at the gate.

“We are experimenting with AI-enabled baggage tracking in Ahmedabad, and here, you will be able to get a message on your phone telling you, for example, that your bag is number 20 on the carousel,” he said.

BVJK Sharma, project CEO of the Adani Group, said the terminal buildings, inspired by India’s national flower, lotus, blend futuristic architecture with operational efficiency.

“NMIA has been designed with resilience and convenience in mind. Walking distance from any gate will be a maximum of 500 metres. The airport has been raised to 8.5 metres to withstand a 100-year flood or cloudburst, and precautions have been taken against bird strikes,” he said.

The airport, engineered to withstand extreme weather events, will be among the most sustainable airports globally, with 47 megawatt solar power generation, electric vehicles for airside operations, rainwater harvesting, wastewater reuse and automated people movers. It will also have 102 retail outlets and food and beverage zones for flyers while non-travellers will have access to a forecourt gaming zone and digital art installations.

“We’ve designed NMIA to be future-proof, both in terms of capacity and climate resilience,” Bansal said.

The airport will be developed in five phases, scaling from 20 million passengers per annum in phase I and II (2024–25) to 90 million passengers per annum by phase V (2040). All four terminals connected via a 10 km automated people mover, officials said.