Navi Mumbai Int’l Airport Tests ‘Validation Flight’, Commercial Ops To Start May ’25 | Watch – News18

Last Updated:December 29, 2024, 21:41 IST

An Indigo Airlines A320 was the “validation flight” that landed in Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) on Sunday.

The Navi Mumbai International Airport achieved a major milestone on Sunday as it successfully handled the landing of its first “validation flight”. An IndiGo A320 aircraft successfully landed on Runway 08/26 at NMIA and was accorded a water salute from two Crash Fire Tenders.

Senior representatives from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Airports Authority of India (AAI), Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Bureau of Immigration, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), India Meteorological Department (IMD), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), and Adani Airports Holdings Limited (AAHL) were present at the occasion.

“This is a momentous day for Navi Mumbai International Airport. The successful completion of the validation flight is a major milestone, and we are now one step closer to operationalising the airport, prioritising safety at every step. We are grateful to the DGCA and all the agencies involved in making the validation flight trial successful. NMIA will not only offer world-class aviation facilities, it will also enable the overall development of the region,” Arun Bansal, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AAHL was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

He said that landing a commercial flight at Navi Mumbai International Airport is historic.

“Now we have moved one step further towards starting the airport. We will inaugurate the first terminal of the airport around April 17, 2025, and commercial operations will start on it in May. The capacity of the first terminal will be around 2 crore passengers per year.”

The landing of the commercial aircraft confirms that the Instrument Approach Procedures at NMIA are working properly. This assessment includes technical checks and landing-takeoff operations, helping the DGCA validate data and NMIA secure the required aerodrome license. After this milestone, NMIA’s flight procedures will be added to the Electronic Aeronautical Information Publication (eAIP) to notify international stakeholders.

NMIA successfully conducted flight calibration of the Instrument Landing System (ILS) and Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) ahead of the validation flight, setting up instrument approach procedures.

Earlier, on October 11, 2024, an Indian Air Force C-295 tactical transport aircraft marked the first landing at this greenfield international airport, which is set to start operations in early 2025.

Location :

Navi Mumbai, India