Navi Mumbai airport says booking passenger load spiked on opening day

Mumbai, Dec 26 (PTI) Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd (NMIA) on Friday said that the arriving and departing booking passenger load at the new airport spiked substantially on the first day of operations compared to levels seen a day before.

The Adani Group-owned Navi Mumbai International Airport, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October this year, commenced commercial flight operations from the facility on December 25.

The airport recorded a marked rise on December 25, the first day of passenger operations, fuelled by heightened traveller interest and start of commercial operations. The overnight spurt in passenger load points to a positive response, Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd (NMIA) said.

On December 24, a day prior to the start of revenue passenger flights, booked passenger load levels stood at 71 per cent for arrivals and 83 per cent for departures.

With the start of scheduled operations on December 25, arrival load increased to 85 per cent, while departure load climbed to 98 per cent, reflecting a strong jump in booking levels on day one, NMIA said in a statement.

On the first day, the airport handled around 5,000 passengers and operated 48 flights, with five airlines-- IndiGo, Tata Group's low-cost arm Air India Express, Akasa Air and regional carrier Star-- connecting nine domestic destinations with peak traffic recorded between 0500 and 0700 hours.

NMIA said the airport recorded a total passenger throughput of 4,922, with 2,278 arriving passengers and 2,644 departing passengers on the first day, indicating strong demand from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

On 26 December, passenger traffic increased further, with the airport handling a total of 5,028 passengers, it stated.

During the initial phase, the facility will operate for 12 hours -- between 8 am and 8 pm, with up to 24 scheduled daily departures to 13 destinations and the capability to manage up to 10 aircraft movements (arrivals and departures) per hour, it added.

From February next year, operations are planned to progressively scale up to round-the-clock services.

The commencement of commercial flight operations marked a landmark expansion in Mumbai's aviation capacity and a decisive step in India's infrastructure journey.

With the facility now operational, Mumbai joins the ranks of global aviation hubs like London, New York, Moscow, Tokyo, and Shanghai, each supported by multiple airports to meet rising demand, Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd (NMIA) said.

The greenfield airport, which is being developed in five phases by NMIA Ltd, is the second such aviation facility in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) after the existing Mumbai International Airport.

NMIAL is a special-purpose vehicle in which the Adani Group has a 74 per cent stake, and the remaining 26 per cent is owned by CIDCO. PTI IAS MR