State begins staffing for Navi Mumbai International Airport, opening set for Sept

Navi Mumbai International Airport's launch in September is set with 285 immigration staff approved, aiming to manage 90 million passengers annually.

NAVI MUMBAI: As preparations gather pace for the much-awaited launch of the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) in September, the Maharashtra home department has approved a dedicated immigration staff of 285 personnel. The sanctioned team includes 20 inspectors, 55 sub-inspectors, 30 assistant sub-inspectors, 60 head constables, and 120 constables. The orders were issued on Thursday, marking one of the final administrative steps ahead of the airport’s operational debut.

State begins staffing for Navi Mumbai International Airport, opening set for Sept

Designed to ease the load on Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), the upcoming NMIA will feature four terminals, two runways, and a dedicated cargo terminal. Once fully operational, it is expected to handle up to 90 million passengers and 360 metric tonnes of cargo annually. The state has committed ₹10.10 crore per year towards immigration-related staffing and infrastructure.

In tandem, the home department is also finalising a proposal to establish a full-fledged police station within the airport premises to manage law and order on-site. This station will have a dedicated strength of about 300 personnel and will be led by a senior inspector. To manage the increasing jurisdictional load, the Navi Mumbai Police was reorganised this week with the creation of a new post of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) for Panvel. Airport operations will be overseen by DCP Zone II, based in Belapur.

Currently, all crimes at Mumbai’s international airport are handled by the Sahar police, while Terminal 1 cases fall under the Airport Police Station. A similar bifurcation is expected at NMIA once operational.

With NMIA poised to become a major transit hub for Mumbai, Thane and satellite towns like Kalyan and Panvel, traffic flow to and from the new airport is also expected to surge. In anticipation, the Navi Mumbai police commissioner has proposed the creation of a dedicated traffic division for the airport zone. The proposed unit, comprising around 250 officers and constables, will be led by a police inspector and will oversee vehicular movement and congestion around the airport corridor.

Meanwhile, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which will handle airport security, has initiated its deployment planning. Sources in the force confirmed that the Ministry of Home Affairs has sanctioned 2,000 CISF personnel for the airport, who will be responsible for passenger screening, terminal security, and other aviation safety operations. The CISF unit at NMIA will be headed by a Deputy Inspector General (DIG)-rank officer.

Terminal 1 of the existing CSMIA is also slated for demolition in the coming months, following which many domestic flights are likely to be rerouted to NMIA. In its opening month, the new airport is expected to handle 30 flights daily, with plans to scale up to 600 flights per day by the second year.