It's another big achievement and a right beginning of a new chapter. The inauguration of Navi Mumbai International Airport and the upcoming Noida International Airport mark a big moment for Indian aviation as Delhi NCR and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region join the ranks of global megacities with multiple fully civilian airports.
India, now with more than 140 civilian airports, is projected to surpass China in air passenger traffic growth rate in 2026, growing at 10.5 %.
It is the world's fastest-growing civil aviation market, according to the Airports International Council (ACI) Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
India is set to be the fastest-growing aviation market in the world between 2023 and 2053, with a CAGR of 5.5%, well ahead of China's 3.8%, according to the ACI.
"With the inauguration of the Navi Mumbai International Airport today and the Noida International Airport by the end of October, India joins big league of cities with multiple airports. Believed a city that crosses 15 million requires two airports.
Kolkata's population has exceeded 15 million, but possibly Bengaluru is next in line," Gurgaon-based entrepreneur-author Vinayak Chatterjee wrote on X.
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London has Heathrow, Gatwick, City, and Stansted airports
New York has JFK, LaGuardia and Newark
Moscow has Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo
Now two Indian metropolis—Delhi NCR and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region— are set to join the big league.
With the inauguration of the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Noida International Airport slated to commence operations on October 30, India and its aviation are joining the club of megacities that have multiple airports.
Delhi NCR might already have two airports—Indira Gandhi International and Hindon in Ghaziabad,
Goa, too, counts Mopa and Dabolim.
But there's a catch. Both Dabolim and Hindon are defence-owned, with civilian enclaves carved out, making them mixed-use, not truly civilian airports.
Now, with Noida and Navi Mumbai airports set to take-off, India is poised to enter the era of multiple fully civilian airports in a single metro city.
The airports will also come as a booster for the operations of India's airlines like IndiGo, Air India and the fledgling Akasa Air. The twin-airport concept will also help decongest Indian cities.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MOCA)'s guidelines mandate that "no greenfield airport will normally be allowed within an aerial distance of 150 kilometres of an existing airport", it also says a second airport could be allowed after detailed study of traffic between the two.
So, the government has been okay with exceptions to the 150-kilometre rule, and experts say the norm needs to be done away with.
PM Modi inaugurated Phase 1 of the Navi Mumbai International Airport on Wednesday. The new airport is expected to ease the heavy traffic burden on Mumbai's existing Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.
The new airport will be spread over 1,160 hectares.
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"Navi Mumbai International Airport is a project which reflects 'Viksit Bharat'...With this new airport, farmers in Maharashtra will be connected to the markets of the Middle East and Europe. This will attract investment and new businesses to the area," PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister also highlighted the impact of the UDAN scheme, his government's regional airport development programme. PM Modi said, “Due to UDAN Yojana, lakhs of people have taken to the skies for the first time in the past decade, fulfilling their dreams. The new airports and the UDAN scheme for affordable air travel have made air travel easier in the country.”
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