NAVI MUMBAI: The international airport here will be partially commissioned by 2019-end, with facilities like fuel farm for filling fuel directly to aircraft, cargo terminal, flight kitchen and main ATC tower done later.
As a parallel, it was pointed out that aviation fuel was brought in trucks to Mumbai airport till the operator for the two city airports, MIAL, formed a JV with IOCL, BPCL and HPCL to develop the fuel farm for direct supply.
Cidco, part of the SPV-NMIAL said, “What the civil aviation secretary probably meant by 2021 of the airport commissioning could be the facilities that would be developed gradually as part of phase I.
The 2019 maiden take-off we are looking at can be done with partial development of the terminal building, runway and facilities including an interim tower, lower than the 105-metre high main one that will be developed later.” The agreement for NMIA provides for partial commissioning of phase I.
Cidco, the nodal airport development authority that has 26% equity stake in NMIAL, disassociated itself from the Union government bureaucrat’s observation and stuck to what chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has been maintaining, that 2019-end the airport goes operational.
The review meeting with chief secretary, aviation secretary , Cidco and MIAL was held on August 31, sources said. But Cidco was not consulted on the statement issued later, which probably led to the confusion.
MIAL had maintained that 2021 is the outer limit of the 41 months in the agreement for commissioning of phase I, but it is 2019-end that the focus was on for making the maiden take-off happen.
DGCA and bureau of civil aviation security on August 30 cleared the masterplan of the largest greenfield airport as per ICAO guidelines.
The terminal building tendered by the operator is yet to be cleared by the Centre. The H-shaped design was changed to U with two arms. With the global tender for the terminal building and runway closing on September 10, the building design is expected soon.
MIAL had maintained that 2021 is the outer limit of the 41 months in the agreement for commissioning of phase I, but it is 2019-end that the focus was on for making the maiden take-off happen
Source:m.timesofindia.com
