Mumbai: With the Maharashtra government failing to make much headway on the proposed Navi Mumbai airport, the civil aviation ministry is prodding the local government to seriously consider reviving the defunct Juhu airport which can be used for smaller aircraft, in order to alleviate the congestion at city's Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL).
The ministry's move is merely the latest of several attempts to revive the oldest airport in the country. It is also the first time that the civil aviation ministry is involving itself in attempting to revive the Juhu airport, which is now a helipad.
Government sources say that the ministry of civil aviation plans to ask the state government to put a task force in place to implement the project. "Mumbai city will face a real problem as the Navi Mumbai airport will take a long time to come up as even the bid process is yet to start. We don't see a new airport coming up in another five years at Navi Mumbai. Even if a new airport is built, users such as airlines and passengers will have to pay prohibitive costs.
04/01/13 Manisha Singhal/Economic Times
