AUGUST 8: Following stiff opposition to the second international airport at Rewas-Mandwa, the state government is considering limited use of the proposed Navi Mumbai airport for international operations. Maharashtra's urban development planners hope to connect Navi Mumbai with countries in the Persian Gulf and South East Asia soon after the proposed airport becomes operational in the year 2002.

However, large scale international operations will not be possible, as the runway at Navi Mumbai is too short to handle bigger aircrafts like the Boeing jumbos, say sources at City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO), the joint sector partner in the project. Only Airbus A 300s and Boeing 757s are slated for use here. The 2300 metre long single runway, 90 X 270 (East-West), will be further lengthened to only 2700 metres in the second phase, as the area on both sides of the proposed runway is surrounded by rivers and streams.

The government's second thoughts on the status of Navi Mumbai airport comes after bids were received from four Indian and foreign companies to build the airport in partnership with CIDCO. The bidders were Reliance Industries Ltd, Rishi Value Marketing, Germany, Boss Technologies and Ispat Industries.

According to the Airports Authority of India and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) Santa Cruz/ Sahar airport will be fully saturated by this century-end. The number of air passengers touching Mumbai is expected to reach 23.50 million by the year 2005 and 49.70 million by 2020. Of these international passengers will amount to 22.80 million. Santa Cruz/ Sahar and Navi Mumbai will alone account for domestic passengers - 26.90 million and 13.45 million respectively.

A pre-feasibility study for the Navi Mumbai project by American consultants, Carter and Burgess, also reiterates the need for a second international airport for Mumbai.

The study however revealed that the Navi Mumbai airport can help prolong the life of Santa Cruz/Sahar by at least another ten years beyond 2004 when it is expected to reach full capacity. The new airport will provide additional apron and parking and maintenance facilities for aircrafts coming to Mumbai, in addition to those landing at Navi Mumbai. With the new airport easing the load off Sahar/Santa Cruz, it can focus more on international operations, the C&B study said.

Incidentally, the study notes that an international airport for Mumbai will not be a viable proposition in the near future due to the structure of airline routes.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.