MUMBAI: The government is considering several options, including building a runway on the sea and connecting the Juhu airport with the Mumbai airport to end its perennial problem of congestion that causes innumerable flight delays, but there's no immediate solution in sight, civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapati Raju said.
With the proposed Navi Mumbai airport not showing much progress and influx of slums and non-availability of land limiting any scope of expansion for the existing airport, the minister is a frustrated man and puts part of the blame on the state government.
"I've been hearing of it (Navi Mumbai airport) for a very long time. Little over a year ago it was marshy land...that is all there...," he told ET in an interview recently.
"Mumbai is a premier city and we need to have a modern airport," Raju said, adding that he has had a couple of meetings with the chief minister of Maharashtra.
The options being considered include building a runway on the sea and extending the existing runway of the Juhu airport into the sea to allow large aircraft to land there and connect the old airport to the MIAL airport two kilometres away at Santa Cruz.
Air India, Jet AirwaysBSE 0.04 %, IndiGo and GoAir reported lowest on-time performance out of Mumbai airport among the four private airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru during September, according to data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. At present MIAL manages 50 aircraft movements per hour, and there is not much headway to improve this. Gatwick airport with similar cross runways like Mumbai does a maximum of 60 movements per hour, sources said.
17/11/15 Mihir Mishra & Satish John/The Economic Times
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With the proposed Navi Mumbai airport not showing much progress and influx of slums and non-availability of land limiting any scope of expansion for the existing airport, the minister is a frustrated man and puts part of the blame on the state government.
"I've been hearing of it (Navi Mumbai airport) for a very long time. Little over a year ago it was marshy land...that is all there...," he told ET in an interview recently.
"Mumbai is a premier city and we need to have a modern airport," Raju said, adding that he has had a couple of meetings with the chief minister of Maharashtra.
The options being considered include building a runway on the sea and extending the existing runway of the Juhu airport into the sea to allow large aircraft to land there and connect the old airport to the MIAL airport two kilometres away at Santa Cruz.
Air India, Jet AirwaysBSE 0.04 %, IndiGo and GoAir reported lowest on-time performance out of Mumbai airport among the four private airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru during September, according to data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. At present MIAL manages 50 aircraft movements per hour, and there is not much headway to improve this. Gatwick airport with similar cross runways like Mumbai does a maximum of 60 movements per hour, sources said.
17/11/15 Mihir Mishra & Satish John/The Economic Times
