Adani Honors War Heroes and "Quiet Architects" at Navi Mumbai Airport Inaugural

Navi Mumbai International Airport commenced commercial flight operations on Thursday.

Gautam Adani said in a post on X that, alongside the war heroes, there were other quiet architects of the nation - farmers, workers, social workers, and specially abled colleagues - and that he and Adani Foundation Chairperson Priti Adani were deeply honoured to stand with them at NMIA.

"It was a deeply moving moment to stand beside Param Vir Chakra awardees Captain @banasinghpvc and Subedar Major Sanjay Kumar as the @navimumairport (NMIA) welcomed its very first passengers. In that moment, alongside the war heroes, stood the other quiet architects of the nation - the workers who built this airport with their bare hands and unbreakable spirit; the farmers and their families who feed India; the social workers who selflessly serve millions alongside the @AdaniFoundation; and our specially abled colleagues who inspire us every single day. For many of them, this was the first flight of their lives," Gautam Adani said in a post on X.

"Soldiers who protect Bharat. Workers who build Bharat. Farmers who sustain Bharat. Social workers who serve Bharat. The specially abled who inspire Bharat. @AdaniPriti and I were deeply honoured to stand with them at NMIA - a moment that captured what this airport truly represents - opportunity with dignity, and a rising India that moves forward without leaving anyone behind. Their blessings, their courage and their resilience drive us every single day to build bigger, serve better, and work harder in service of the nation," he added.

Jeet Adani, Director at Adani Airports Holdings Limited, had said last Friday that more terminals will be added at Navi Mumbai International Airport as passenger traffic grows.

"We'll have the first terminal operational. The terminal has a capacity of about 20 million passengers, and the first southern runway is going to be operational. As we grow in terms of traffic, we will be adding three more terminals, another runway, cross-field taxiways, metro connectivity, two kinds of metro connectivity, one towards Mumbai, one towards Panvel, water taxi and helipad," he told ANI.

"Every form of transportation will be connected as a true multi-modal hub should be. This will keep going on for the next 15 years. So we see between 2038-2040, that time period is where we'll see the entire Navi Mumbai fully built out," he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Phase 1 of Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) built at a cost of around Rs 19,650 crore, on October 8.

The Navi Mumbai International Airport is India's largest Greenfield airport project, developed under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP). As the second international airport for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, NMIA will work in tandem with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) to ease congestion and elevate Mumbai to the league of global multi-airport systems.

The airport, designed to be among the most efficient in the world with 1160 Ha area, will eventually handle 90 million passengers annually (MPPA) and 3.25 million metric tonnes of cargo.

- ANI