Navi Mumbai airport awaits MoEA nod
The civil aviation ministry is hopeful that the Navi Mumbai airport project will receive environmental clearance by October, hastening the process of construction of a much-needed second airport for Mumbai. The ministry is hopeful that the bidding process can commence by the end of 2010 and be completed within six months thereafter. With the air-traffic capacity of the existing Mumbai airport already being stretched, the ministry could also soon place restrictions on operation of non-scheduled turbo-prop aircraft flights to and from Mumbai airport except for medical emergencies.
The Navi Mumbai airport proposal has not yet received environmental clearances following differences in outlook between civil aviation minister Praful Patel and environment minister Jairam Ramesh following which Mr Patel had sought the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Civil aviation ministry sources said they were confident that the differences in perception between Mr Patel and Mr Ramesh would be sorted out. Meanwhile Mr Patel and Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik met on Monday evening to discuss the issue of flexible use of airspace by both the IAF and commercial flights. According to some estimates, about 50 per cent of airspace in the country is reserved for military use.
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