Mumbai, January 18: The chief executive officer of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Alexandre de Juniac, on Wednesday demolished the tall claims of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis who said that first phase of Navi Mumbai International airport would be operational by mid-2020. Juniac stated that the first phase would take another five years to complete.

Addressing a roundtable conference after an aviation summit, Juniac said, as reported by The Hindustan Times, “If the tenders are still in the bidding stage, then coming up with a new airport in less than five years is impressive. Even completion of airport construction in five years will be very good performance from the authorities concerned.” Mumbai Airport Introduces Digi-Yatra, Eliminates ‘Boarding Pass Stamping’ for Domestic Airlines.

According to the report, for the construction of the upcoming airport a total of 2,240 hectares land would be needed. But currently, as per the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), though the land acquisition process is almost complete, vacating the villages is still under process.

Providing the information of the groundwork, a CIDCO official said, as the daily quotes, “Of the 10 villages, Ganeshpuri, Targhar, Varcha Owle, Kopar, Vaghavli, Waghavivada have been vacated. Kolhi and Chinchpada have been 95% vacated, while 70% of Kombadbhuje and Ulwe have been vacated.”

Informing more, the CIDCO official said that villagers were given the deadline of January 15 and those who are yet to vacate their homes will not be given monetary compensation promised by the government.

It is to be known that IATA has more than 280 airlines as its members, which also consists Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, and after completion, Navi Mumbai International Airport would become its member.

The NMIA is a combined venture of Navi Mumbai International Airport (P) Limited (NMIAL) and GVK group, built in a public-private partnership venture. GVK which has 74% stake in the Mumbai International Airport (P) Ltd (MIAL), would share the remaining percentage share with CIDCO in the profits with CIDCO.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 19, 2019 12:08 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).