An Indian Air Force (IAF) transport carrier C295 landed at the southern runway 26, marking the formal launch of the new airport of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) on Friday.

The aircraft touched down on the newly completed 3,700-metre runway at 12.14 pm, the airport operator said. The landing was accorded a water canon salute.

The airport being developed by Adani Group is located in Ulwe, around 10 minutes away from Panvel in MMR and will be easily accessible via road, metro rail, and suburban railways. Once completed, the Navi Mumbai International Airport will enhance connectivity with nearby cities like Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Kalyan, and western Maharashtra.

International flights from and to Navi Mumbai airport are expected to commence around June 2025.

The airport with four terminals and two parallel runways will have space to park around 350 planes It will have connectivity with bullet train and  Metro. It connects with Navi Mumbai Metro Line 1 and Mumbai Metro Line 8 (Gold line). It will connect with Mumbai Hyderabad high speed rail corridor.

Navi Mumbai International Airport is being built over 1,160 acres, at a cost of Rs 16,700 crore.Once operational, it will be able to handle yearly traffic of 90 million passengers. By 2032, the airport will be able to accommodate 2.5 million tonnes of cargo.The domestic cargo terminal will be spread over 3,60,000 sq ft and the international cargo terminal will be spread over 2,55,000 sq ft.

NMIA will also feature a fuel farm of 1,630,000 sq ft and three aircraft hangars.

The green airport will have electric vehicles, solar energy and green electricity. About 75% of the lotus-shaped terminal building has been completed in Phase 1.

Project planning for the airport started in 1990 and picked speed in the 2000s. Prime minister Narendra Modi laid the project’s foundation stone in February 2018.

Speaking to mediapersons Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde said, “Today, an Indian Air Force C295 aircraft made a successful test landing at the runway at the Navi Mumbai International Airport. We are ready for both flight and fight” -- making an apparent reference to the upcoming state assembly elections.

He termed the facility a big gift to people, and said once it is commissioned, the congestion at the busy Mumbai airport will ease considerably.

Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, union minister of state for civil aviation Muralidhar Mohol, CIDCO president Sanjay Shirsat, MPs Shrikant Shinde, Srirang Barane, Sunil Tatkare, Naresh Mhaske, MLAs Ganesh Naik, Mahesh Baldi, CIDCO vice chairman and MD Vijay Singhal, Navi Mumbai municipal commissioner Kailas Shinde, deputy commissioner Rahul Gethe and others were also present.