Navi Mumbai airport to handle 137 flights a day

Mumbai: The proposed airport at Navi Mumbai, expected to be operational by 2012, will be able to handle 25 per cent of the total air traffic capacity of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in its first phase. This forecast has been approved by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), a specialised United Nations agency, after it conducted a simulation study to ascertain whether conflict-free operations could be carried out between the current and proposed airports. ICAO had been jointly commissioned by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) and the Airports’ Authority of India (AAI) to conduct the study, at a cost of Rs 2 crore. The findings of the ICAO report were submitted to the Union Civil Aviation Ministry earlier this year.
By the time the proposed airport becomes functional in 2012, the current airport will be saturated and the Navi Mumbai airport will therefore cater to the additional traffic generated in six years’ time.
The proposal for the Greenfield airport has been sent to the Union Cabinet for approval, and is expected “within a month or so,” according to Kapoor.
Meanwhile, work on the Detailed Project Report (DPR) has already begun and the report will be ready in six months. CIDCO has also appointed Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) and Pune-based Central Water and Power Research Station to prepare environmental impact assessment and hydrological reports respectively. “Rs 119 crore has been set aside for these two projects. While the report by IIT-B should take about six months, the hydrological study will conclude in three months,’’ Kapoor added.
17/12/06 Swatee Kher/Mumbai Newsline

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