CHIEF MINISTER Uddhav Thackeray has asked the Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation (MADC) to speed up the plan of a satellite airport for Mumbai in Palghar district. Palghar district was carved out of Thane district on August 1, 2014, and is a developing part of Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
The City Industrial Development Corporation is already working on the Navi Mumbai International Airport project and they expect its first flight by 2023.
The MADC board held a meeting on the issue on Tuesday. About the airport in Palghar, a senior MADC officer said, “We would have a runway of 2,200 metres approximately and preference will be given to government, CIDCO, or Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation-owned land. People who find it difficult to travel to Mumbai will be able to take flights from here, but it can also be compatible for aircrafts like B737 or A320. This will also serve as a satellite airport for Mumbai. It can also be used for ferrying local farm produce.”
The Collector of Palghar has been asked to speed up site selection. “Starting an ATR (Regional Transport Airplane) flight will not be a problem. An ATR plane service was started from Chipi airport and it’s almost running full,” said the officer, adding the work of extending the Amravati airport from 1,372 to 1,850 metres will be completed by July and Alliance Air, which has won the contract under the region connectivity scheme, will start flights by Diwali.
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As of now, there is a ban on new airports coming up within 150 nautical miles of existing one, but an exception was made for the Navi Mumbai International airport. A similar exception was made for the Jewar airport in Noida.
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/cm-uddhav-thackeray-calls-for-speeding-up-satellite-airport-project-for-mumbai-7910487/
