Navi Mumbai International Airport to open on Oct 08, 2025; features, latest updates

The Navi Mumbai International Airport, one of the most awaited infrastructure projects of Maharashtra will be inaugurated on September 30, 2025 by Prime Minister Modi. This will be one of the biggest airports in the country boasting of twice the capacity of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) and busiest airports with over 9 crore passengers and 0.25 crore tonne of cargo expected to be served per annum by 2032.

Built on an area of 1,160  hectare of land,  the Navi Mumbai International Airport is designed in the shape of a lotus and will be developed in phases. While GVK initially started work on this project, it exited the airport business by selling its shares to the Adani Airports Holdings Limited in 2021. The project is being developed by the Navi Mumbai International Airport Limited (NMIAL), a special purpose vehicle (SPV) by Adani Airports Holdings Limited and Cidco. The Navi Mumbai International Airport is proposed to be named as the DB Patil Navi Mumbai Airport, however, no decisions have been taken on this front still.

Where is the Navi Mumbai International Airport located?

The Navi Mumbai International Airport is a greenfield airport located at Ulwe, Navi Mumbai. Located in the Raigad District, the airport is around 18 km from Ulwe and Panvel. Navi Mumbai locations leading to the airport including Kharghar, Belapur CBD etc. have signboards of directions towards Navi Mumbai International Airport placed in the city.

This airport was proposed with an intent to reduce the traffic load on the existing CSMIA. Once operation starts,  this will be the second working airport in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).  Media reports mention that the CSMIA T1 Domestic Airport will shut its civilian operations.

Navi Mumbai International Airport: Key facts

Navi Mumbai International Airport: Project details

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on February 18, 2018, laid the foundation stone for the Navi Mumbai International Airport.

Structural details

• Apron area: 7,20,000 sqft
• Terminal area: 1,80,000 sqft
• Parking for 10 Code C aircraft

Two runways

Runway 08L/26R: 3,700 by 60 metre

Runway 08R/26L: 3,700 by 60 metre

Features of the Navi Mumbai International Airport

Source: Bombaybubble Instagram 

• The Navi Mumbai International Airport has been designed by Zaha Hadid Architects.
• The airport will have three interconnected terminal buildings shaped like a lotus.
• The terminal buildings will include food courts, lounges, travellators and other facilities for passengers.
• The airport will boast of the ultra-fast baggage handling system that uses 360-degree barcode scanning. This will ensure accuracy and speed. Also, future phases of the airport are planned in such a way that passengers can check in luggage within the city itself, which will help ensure seamless, luggage-free airport transfers.
• The Navi Mumbai International Airport will be the first airport in the country with automated passenger movement within its 1,600 hectares for 10 km each on the city-side and air side.
• The airport will be an eco-friendly airport. Onsite solar energy will be generated and only electric vehicles will be used here.

How to reach Navi Mumbai International Airport?

Following the Prime Minister’s vision to create multimodal connectivity under the Gati Shakti Yojana, the Navi Mumbai International Airport will have road, rail and metro connectivity.

The airport was planned with dual entrances – from the East and the West, with connectivity through expressway, suburban rail, metro and water transport.

By road

In three directions – NH 4B (348), the Sion-Panvel Highway and through the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link.

The MSRTC is planning to start dedicated airport express buses from several locations in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and the surrounding areas to the NMIA.

Elevated corridor linking Thane and NMIA

The Maharashtra government on August 19, 2025 approved the construction of a 25-km-long elevated corridor to link Thane with the upcoming Navi Mumbai international airport.

By rail

The Harbour’s Line Panvel Railway Station is adjacent to NMIA.  Also, the airport will be connected to rail by Targhar Railway Station. The Navi Mumbai International Airport may have a station on the 767-km Mumbai-Hyderabad High-Speed Rail (Bullet Train) project.

By metro

The Mumbai Metro Gold Line ( also known as Airport Express line or Mumbai Metro Line 8) will help in easy connectivity between Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and the Navi Mumbai International Airport. The MMRDA has asked Cidco to come up with a detailed DPR for this line. The line will have a total of 8 stations with 6 stops in between and cover the entire distance in 30 minutes.

By water

Options are being explored to connect the airport through hovercraft from Colaba and through cargo from Raigad in Phase 2 of the Navi Mumbai International Airport.

The Navi Mumbai International Airport will be the first airport in India that will be supported by water taxi services. While previously Water Taxis were developed by Cidco and were launched to provide connectivity from Nerul jetty to South Mumbai, it didn’t see much public acceptance. However, this time, Mumbai will have technical support from Kochi Water Metro project that is very popular down south and work towards providing connectivity to around major points in Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad etc.

About Navi Mumbai International Airport operations

With Mumbai having two airports, passengers booking from Mumbai should look for the IATA issued code on their tickets to ensure they reach the right airport, as both airports are in two different directions of the city.

The Navi Mumbai International Airport will operate under the ‘NMI’ code.’ The Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) operates under the ‘BOM’ code.

Also,  the regulator Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) has permitted the levy of the user development fee (UDF) of up to Rs 1,225 at the Navi Mumbai International Airport on an ad-hoc basis for FY 25-26, mention media reports. Under this, passengers flying out from the NMIA will have to pay Rs 620 for domestic flights and Rs 1,225 for international flights as the User Development Fee (UDF). Passengers who are arriving at the NMIA have to pay Rs 270 for domestic flights and Rs 525 for international flights, mentioned the AERA order that ran to 42 pages.

The AERA will be allowing levy of the UDF until March 31, 2026 or till final determination of regular tariff, whichever is earlier. “The revenue to be collected by NMIAL on an ad-hoc basis in the interim period shall be accounted for by the authority during the regular tariff determination exercise of NMIA,” the order said.

Navi Mumbai International Airport to start with 12-hour operations 

In order to test the stability of the systems and streamlining the working processes, the NMIA will initially work for a 12-hour shift and then gradually shift to a 24 hour shift. For the first two months, the airport will operate from 8 AM to 8 PM.

The NMIA will initially start with domestic operations. Indigo, Akasa Air and Air India will operate domestic flights from this airport from day 1 of operations. According to reports, Air India Express will start commercial flight operations to more than 15 cities with 20 daily departures from the Navi Mumbai International Airport. The carrier will increase this to 55 daily departures by mid 2026 and this will also include five international stops.

International operations at this airport is expected to start from May 2026.  Initially, there  are plans to start around 8-10 air traffic movements per hour which will be expanded to around 30 air traffic movements per hour by April 2026.

What is the estimated project cost of the Navi Mumbai International Airport?

The estimated project cost to develop the Navi Mumbai International Airport is around Rs 17,000 crore. The airport has been developed by Adani Airport Holdings and City And Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (Cidco). The Adani Group, together with the Cidco, formed a special purpose vehicle (SPV) – the Navi Mumbai International Airport Limited (NMIAL), the developing agency of the Navi Mumbai Airport. While Adani has 74% of the stake in the airport, Cidco has 26% stake.

Problem areas near Navi Mumbai International Airport

One of the problem areas identified near the NMIA is the presence of illegal meat trade shops operating in Ulwe that is around 3km from the runway, mention media reports. This can lead to issues like bird hit in the engine that is also believed to be one of the reasons for the Ahmedabad London Air India air crash that claimed over 241 lives. Meat shops attract large birds like kites, hawks etc. which accidentally can hit the engine of the aeroplane thus resulting in accidents. The DGCA has already issued several warnings in this regard.

Navi Mumbai International Airport: Project implementation stages

The airport construction started in August 2021. The Navi Mumbai Airport will be implemented in five phases. Phases 1 and 2 will begin with one runway, one terminal and a passenger capacity of two crore. Phases 3, 4 and 5 will include the second runway, four terminals and an increased passenger capacity of nine crore.

L&T Construction is responsible for Terminal 1’s construction, which started in November 2022. It includes a 3,700-metre runway, apron systems, taxiway systems and airfield ground lighting. L&T will be responsible for constructing supporting infrastructure, such as parking.

Pre-development work of Phase-2 to start October 2025

The pre-development work of Phase -2 of the Navi Mumbai International Airport is expected to start by October 2025, where a second terminal and an additional runway will be constructed to meet future expectations. This is expected to accommodate another 30-35 million passengers per year. The design of the second terminal will be based on the outcome of an architectural competition.

VVIP terminal to be built in Navi Mumbai International Airport

To be part of the third phase, the Navi Mumbai International Airport will have a VVIP terminal that will cater to celebrities and politicians.  The construction of this terminal is expected to start in 2025 and finish by 2030. This terminal will also be designed as a general aviation hub for actors and business people. This is a USP of this airport as the VVIP terminal does not exist in the CSMIA.

Navi Mumbai International Airport: Real estate impact

Navi Mumbai, which was once constructed as a satellite city for Mumbai, has now become as big as the parent city. This is proven by the fact that it will soon have its own international airport. As a planned city, more nodes in Navi Mumbai are opening up with new infrastructure, such as the Navi Mumbai Metro and the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, reducing the distance to any point in the MMR. With such growing advantages, the real estate market shows positive growth. Experts point out that once Phase 1 of the Navi Mumbai Airport becomes operational, most places in the satellite city will see a surge in real estate prices.

A case in point is that of Ulwe. When the location was first introduced residentially maybe around 2011-12, Ulwe was not a very sought-after property destination, because this node was not in line with the old harbour line network. The place had just a few developers who were working on projects that also only because of the announcement of the airport. However, people were still unsure if the airport would be constructed here or not. Also, the location lacked reputed developers, and since RERA hadn’t been implemented yet, it was a risky proposition for people to invest their hard-earned money in a location that didn’t actually show how it would change once it develops. However, today, the entire area has seen a sea change in demand. This is located close to the starting point of the MTHL and reaching South Mumbai is exactly or less than 20 minutes from here. “I bought my 2 BHK in Ulwe for Rs 38 lakh in 2015. Connectivity was not great at that time here, with even the harbour train starting only in 2018. However, in 10 years, this place has seen a great change, and today buying a property is beyond my means,” says Ujwal Sharma, a resident of Ulwe.

Similarly, on the other side you have the Navi Mumbai International Airport being developed, which will soon be operational. There is the Mumbai Pune Expressway in close vicinity that will add to the connectivity. News reports suggest that Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has acquired an industrial land parcel, spread over 5,286 acre that is located near Navi Mumbai Airport, JNPT and the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link. Similarly, Adani Realty is likely to launch a Rs 1,000 crore plus township near the airport.  Developers, including Godrej Properties, Adani Realty, L&T Realty, Wadhwa Developers, Hiranandani, Kalpataru and Raheja, are increasingly expanding their presence in Navi Mumbai, gauging the demand that is set to come.

As the highly anticipated Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIAL) prepares for its inaugural launch on September 30, 2025, the demand for residential properties in the surrounding area has skyrocketed. Responding to this surge, in Phase 1, NMIAL has signed a significant Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The Wadhwa Group to secure 405 ready-to-move-in flats at its flagship integrated township Wadhwa Wise City, Panvel for airport personnel and families from October 2025. This collaboration is a testament to the symbiotic growth between large-scale infrastructure projects in the NAINA region and the real estate sector.

Cidco to develop 667-acre Navi Mumbai Aerocity near NMIA

Cidco is developing a 667-acre Navi Mumbai Aerocity near the soon-to-be inaugurated Navi Mumbai International Airport. The project will include allocation of land for residential real estate, commercial real estate, and retail spaces including shops, offices, and businesses. Media reports highlight that over 120 acres will be set aside for the above-mentioned development. Cidco has already called out tenders from consultants to design a detailed Master Plan. The Navi Mumbai Aerocity will be connected to other huge infrastructure projects in the satellite city including the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, Navi Mumbai Metro, and the expanded harbour railway networks.

With this, Navi Mumbai will join the list of Aerocities in India that are being developed or already operational in India, including Ayodhya, Delhi, Devanahalli, Durgapur, Jewar, Mohali, and Hyderabad.

Housing.com POV

With the Navi Mumbai International Airport becoming a reality, the infrastructure game of Navi Mumbai is growing strong. The city is seeing an influx of commercial properties with the hospitality industry especially showing greater presence. The Navi Mumbai International Airport, the MTHL, the Navi Mumbai Metro, connectivity to other parts of Mumbai through rail and road and water taxi will boost investment and lifestyle opportunities. Developers, including Godrej Properties, Adani Realty, L&T Realty and Raheja, are increasingly expanding their presence in Navi Mumbai, gauging the demand that is set to come. Finally, with news of plans to develop a Third Mumbai, the real estate market in this area is expected to surge further.

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(Featured image: GVK)