Mumbai: A new runway parallel to existing Mumbai airport's main runway and slum redevelopment are part of Rs 2,000 crore Juhu airport development plan which approved today.
Civil aviation secretary KN Srivastava said the work on the project after securing all the clearances can begin in sixteen months and will be complete twenty months thereafter. Srivastava met Maharashtra government officials to discuss the issue.
The civil aviation ministry has been pushing the Juhu airport expansion work as the proposed Navi Mumbai airport has been held up due to problems in land acquisition.
The ministry wants to shift all turbo prop movements and business jet operations to Juhu as this will free up 15 percent of capacity at Mumbai airport and enable it to handle larger planes.
Srivastava said Mumbai airport is modernised to handle 40 million passengers and that capacity will be saturated in next 3-4 years. Shifting of smaller planes will enable the Mumbai airport to handle around 50 million passengers.
05/04/13 Annesh Phadnis/Business Standard
