WATCH | First flight lands at Navi Mumbai airport, water cannon salute marks ceremony

Mumbai: Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) began commercial flight operations on Thursday, marking a significant milestone for India’s civil aviation sector and expanding air travel capacity for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

The airport’s inaugural flight, IndiGo 6E460 from Bengaluru, landed at 08:00 hrs and was welcomed with a traditional water cannon salute, captured in the official video released by the airport. The first departure, IndiGo flight 6E882 to Hyderabad, took off at 08:40 hrs, completing NMIA’s inaugural arrival and departure cycle.

On its first day, the airport will host domestic flights operated by IndiGo, Air India Express, Akasa Air, and Star Air, connecting to nine destinations across India. NMIA will handle 15 scheduled departures initially, operating between 8 am and 8 pm, with the capacity to manage up to 10 aircraft movements per hour.

The airport, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 8, was built in its first phase at a cost of Rs 19,650 crore. Once all five phases are completed, NMIA will cater to 90 million passengers annually, featuring dedicated cargo terminals and multimodal connectivity.

Developed under a special purpose vehicle, Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd (NMIAL), the project has a 74% stake held by the Adani Group, with the remaining 26% owned by CIDCO. Operations are expected to scale up to round-the-clock services from February next year.