Navi Mumbai Airport: Boost for Indian Economy, IATA Says

New Delhi, Oct 7 (PTI) Navi Mumbai International Airport will ease the capacity constraints in the Mumbai region, strengthen connectivity and bring even greater economic and social benefits to the Indian economy, global airlines' grouping IATA said on Tuesday.

The first phase of the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), built at a cost of around Rs 19,650 crore, will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.

Sheldon Hee, Regional Vice President, Asia-Pacific at IATA said the inauguration of the airport is an important milestone in India's amazing aviation journey.

"Aviation contributes USD 53.6 billion to India's economy and supports 7.7 million jobs. Navi Mumbai Airport will ease the capacity constraints in the Mumbai region, strengthen connectivity, and bring even greater economic and social benefits to the Indian economy," he said in a statement.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) represents around 350 airlines that account for over 80 per cent of the global air traffic.

In the first phase, the airport will have one terminal and one runway that will cater to 20 million passengers annually.

The airport received the aerodrome licence from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on September 30.

A release from the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday said NMIA will be the first airport in the country to be connected by water taxi.

The airport will have an Automated People Mover (APM), a transit system planned to connect all four passenger terminals, landside APM linking the city-side infrastructure and a dedicated storage for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), among others, the statement said.