Navi Mumbai International Airport to conduct first trial aircraft landing

The Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) is about to witness its very first milestone in the coming week as the Airports Authority of India will conduct trial runs of the flights, starting August 8, 2024.

The airport is set to witness its very first aircraft landing on October 31, 2024, on a trial basis. 

The AAI will begin the commission of the Instrument Landing System (ILS) by next week marking the start of the flight-testing process.

The ILS is a critical step in calibrating flight paths to ensure the airport's operational readiness.

ILS is a precision runway approach aid based on two radio beams, providing pilots with vertical and horizontal guidance during landing.

The localiser component offers lateral guidance to ensure aircraft alignment with the runway's centreline, while the glide path component provides vertical guidance for altitude. 

The AAI planned to conduct the ILS testing last month but heavy rains hampered the operations and AAI could not finish the work, this work will now resume from August 12, 2024

However, this is one of the first steps for runway completion.

Then comes an array of steps like calibration of pathway, reports submission followed by a series of tests and permissions. 

The first phase of the airport is expected to be fully operational by March 31, 2025.

The already over-crowded Mumbai Airport is eagerly waiting for the opening of its twin airport to ease passenger and aircraft traffic congestion.

Initially, the airport will have a capacity of 20 million passengers per annum and 0.5 million metric tonnes of cargo per year.

The NMIA will add about 40% more passenger handling capacity, equipped with two runways and spanning over an area of 1,160 acres.

The first and second phases will feature one runway, one terminal building, and a passenger capacity of 20 million.

The subsequent phases 3, 4, and 5 will introduce a second runway, four additional terminals, and an increased passenger capacity of 90 million.