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Navi Mumbai International Airport to be named after DB Patil, says minister

Navi Mumbai International Airport to be named after late DB Patil, the leader of project-affected persons, said Maharashtra Forests Minister Ganesh Naik on Monday, reported news agency PTI.

Naik was addressing a janta darbar (public hearing) in Vashi.

“During the event, DB Patil`s son Atul met Naik to request the naming of the Navi Mumbai International Airport after his father. Responding to the request, Naik assured that once the commercial operations commence, the airport will be officially named after DB Patil,” a release stated.

The minister said the demands of the project-affected persons (PAPs) requesting freehold status for LIG (low income group) and MIG (middle income group) lands along with uniform land regularisation rates will be raised with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The work on the greenfield Navi Mumbai International Airport started in February 2018, and in 2022, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government decided to name it “Loknete Swargiya DB Patil International Airport”, reported PTI.

A senior Adani Airports Holding Ltd (AAHL) executive last month said the airport is expected to be inaugurated on April 17. The operations will start in the second week of May.

The airport conducted a commercial flight test last December with an IndiGo A320 passenger aircraft landing successfully at runway 08/26, officials had said.

Regular flights to start from Navi Mumbai airport in 2025

Navi Mumbai International Airport is expected to be inaugurated on April 17, 2025, and become operational by the second half of May 2025. After the first phase of its opening, it is expected to handle approximately 20 to 30 air traffic movements per hour and cater to 20 million (200 lakh) passengers per year. 

Arun Bansal, CEO of Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL), specifically spoke to the print media and said, “Today (Sunday, December 29), we witnessed the landing of the first commercial aircraft, which is an integral part of the process to make the airport operational. We will now need to procure an aerodrome license from the DGCA. We are expecting to inaugurate the airport on April 17, 2025. After the inauguration, a 4-week time frame is required for the security sweep of the airport and to procure other documentation before it becomes operational.”

He added, “Domestic operations will begin in the second half of May 2025. We are in talks with both domestic and international airlines. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai is facing some issues due to the single runway situation. The current Mumbai airport handles around 50 million passengers every year. Airlines are very eager to move some of their operations to Navi Mumbai airport to capture the additional passenger growth that Mumbai airport is seeing.”

(With inputs from PTI)

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