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 projectaffected persons said Maharashtra Forests Minister Ganesh Naik on Monday reported news agency PTINaik was addressing a janta darbar public hearing in VashiDuring the event DB Patils 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 statedThe minister said the demands of the projectaffected 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 FadnavisThe work on the greenfield Navi Mumbai International Airport started in February 2018 and in 2022 the Maha Vikas Aghadi government decided to name it ldquoLoknete Swargiya DB Patil International Airportrdquo reported PTIA 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 MayThe airport conducted a commercial flight test last December with an IndiGo A320 passenger aircraft landing successfully at runway 0826 officials had saidRegular flights to start from Navi Mumbai airport in 2025Navi 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 yearArun Bansal CEO of Adani Airport Holdings Ltd AAHL specifically spoke to the print media and said ldquoToday 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 4week time frame is required for the security sweep of the airport and to procure other documentation before it becomes operationalrdquoHe added ldquoDomestic 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 seeingrdquoWith inputs from PTI