In a significant milestone witnessed months ahead of the commissioning of the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), a C-295 transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) landed on its runway on Friday afternoon.
The C-295, a medium tactical transport aircraft, landed around 1215 hrs after which it was accorded a water salute.
As the transport aircraft touched the NMIA’s runway, there was a stunning flypast by Sukhoi-30 fighter jets of the IAF. The inaugural landing of aircraft marked a new beginning in the country’s aviation sector.
The NMIA has been developed by the Navi Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (NMIAL), which is a special-purpose vehicle formed by the Adani Airports Holdings Ltd (AAHL) and City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd (CIDCO). The CIDCO is the nodal agency for the project.
A Greenfield airport, NMIA will serve as the second international airport for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), to be operated alongside the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) of Mumbai.
