New Delhi: The Adani group has identified a string of projects — well over 310 that will require a capex of about Rs 17,500 crore by March 2029 — to augment the annual passenger handling capacity of Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) to 6.5 crore passengers annually (CPA). The projects include building a bigger Terminal 1 in place of the existing terminal, expanding Terminal 2’s capacity from 4 CPA to 4.5 CPA and increasing the hourly flight handling capacity to over 52. By 2029-30, the combined capacity of CSMIA and the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) is expected to touch 11.5 CPA, to “cater to the growing demands of Mumbai region and Mumbai Metropolitan Region”, shows an order issued by the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) recently.Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) “has proposed extending existing taxiway M to link it with the physical beginning of runway 27, including the construction of a bridge over Mithi river. The proposed Taxiway M extension will create an additional holding area for aircraft.… It will be designed for Code F aircraft (that include Boeing 747-8 and Airbus A380),” the order states.The hub had handled its highest ever passenger number of almost 5.5 crore in CY 2024. Since last Feb, CSMIA which has a set of cross runways — making it essentially a single runway airport — is handling upto 44 flights (down from earlier 46) during “high intensity runway operations” (HIRO) periods from 8-11am and 5-8pm. And upto 42 aircraft movement per hour (down from earlier 44) during non-HIRO period. This is now set to get a big bost in the next 3-4 years.“Some of such projects identified for implementation for enabling the airport to cater to 6.5 CPA capacity are: Reconstruction of TI to enhance the capacity from 1.5 CPA to 2 CPA. Terminal 2 northwest pier (check-in facilities, construction of bus boarding Gates (V3) T2 expansion to enhance the capacity to 4.5 CPA. Additional aircraft parking stands in the southern side of runway 09-27,” states the AERA order. The other steps include construction of parking stand, constructing an airside tunnel, and an eastern taxiway parallel to runway 14-32.AERA had asked MIAL to engage UK-based National Air Traffic Services (NATS) “to provide an independent high-level review of the infrastructure and forecast demand contained in CSMIA master plan. NATS has done a study and has confirmed the peak hour theoretical capacity of 55 ATMs (aircraft movement) based on its analysis benchmarking with other busy single runway airports like Gatwick but in respect to taxiway infrastructure, it has stated that the ‘master plan changes appear to offer significant benefits, but they require more detailed assessment to confirm’. The phasing of the taxiway infrastructure changes should be reviewed to ensure that sufficient capacity is provided as demand grows,” the order shows.MIAL has proposed a capex of Rs 17,440 crore in the fourth control period, that is upto March 31, 2029, on the capacity augmentation at CSMIA through the various identified projects related to key areas including airside improvement and passenger terminals. T1 is proposed to be reconstructed at a cost of Rs 3,130 crore by Sept 2028. T2 expansion is projected to cost Rs 142 crore and be over by March 2027. The air traffic control technical block is projected to cost Rs 185 crore and be done by March 2027.
