A Proud Moment For Mumbaikars: Gautam Adani On Navi Mumbai Airport's Inaugural Day

Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, expressed immense pride as the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) commenced operations on Thursday. In an exclusive interaction with NDTV, Adani highlighted the significance of the project for Mumbai and its residents.

“This is a very proud moment for Mumbaikars. We are fortunate to have had the opportunity to develop Navi Mumbai Airport,” Adani said, emphasising the group’s commitment to creating a world-class facility. He noted that Mumbai had been grappling with infrastructure challenges for over a decade, with the existing Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport operating at full capacity.

“Mumbai was struggling to have more facilities for the last 10 years. The existing Mumbai airport was fully jammed,” Adani remarked. He added that the new airport will significantly ease air traffic movement and improve connectivity across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

IndiGo flight 6E460, travelling from Bengaluru, landed at the Navi Mumbai International Airport at 8 am and was welcomed with the traditional water cannon salute, a ceremonial aviation tradition in which fire trucks spray arcs of water over an aircraft as it taxis.

This was followed by the airport's first departure, IndiGo flight 6E882 to Hyderabad, which took off at 8:40 am.

The Navi Mumbai International Airport, designed with modern amenities and advanced technology, aims to position Mumbai as a multi-airport hub and cater to the growing demand for air travel in India.

The Navi Mumbai International Airport project was first envisioned in 1997 by Maharashtra’s City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO). Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid its foundation stone in 2018 and formally inaugurated the airport on October 8 this year.

Since 2021, Adani Airports Holdings Limited (AAHL), a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Limited, has spearheaded the development and construction of this greenfield airport. The company advanced the project from accelerated construction to phased commercial operations within a remarkably compressed timeline.

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