2025 promises to be exciting for aviation

The revival of SpiceJet was a big surprise for the sector in 2024. Many had grounded the airline since the pandemic took a severe toll on the airline's functioning.

- Anjuli Bhargava

Construction is on at a frenetic pace to complete the Noida International Airport (NIA), a 100% subsidiary of Zurich Airport International. The first flight is scheduled to take off from the runway in April 2025. In the first phase, the ₹5,730-crore new airport with a single runway and the terminal building is expected to cater to 12 million passengers annually. Validation flights began at the facility earlier this month.

Trying to match the pace of NIA but still lagging is the most urgently needed airport in the country – the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) – something most Mumbai residents have long given up hope of ever seeing completed. Getting NMIA off the ground will be a big achievement and a feather in many caps including CIDCO (the agency that has been struggling with it for decades) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, who has taken a personal interest in the project. As things stand, the project is 83% complete and the target is to get the domestic terminal operational by April, and international by July, but most expect a delay of a few months to get all requisite clearances.

Viability remains a question mark for NIA while Navi Mumbai is likely to hit the ground running as Mumbai's current facilities are notoriously inadequate. Several smaller airports around the country are in need or likely to see upgrades, but it is these two new greenfield airports that will attract national attention.