Mumbai, Dec. 24 -- Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) will become the first region in India to have two functional airports once the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) opens on Thursday. Though the airport will initially be accessible only via road, it has been planned as a fully networked, multi-directional transport hub designed to absorb passenger and cargo traffic from across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and key hinterland corridors, said Vijay Singhal, vice chairman and managing director of the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), which holds 26% stake in the airport. "This is not an airport that depends on one corridor working well," Singhal said. "From the outset, we mapped directional traffic flows separately-from South Mumbai, the eastern suburbs, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivli, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Nashik-Surat and the Konkan belt-so that no single route becomes a bottleneck and airport access remains reliable, irrespective of where traffic originates." For now, flyers and visitors to the airport will have to either drive down or take a cab till the dedicated area outside terminal 1. The existing Sion Panvel Highway, Palm Beach Road, Amara Marg (NH348A) and NH548 (starting at Kalamboli Circle and ending at the intersection of NH348 at Kalamboli) will provide direct connectivity with Mumbai, Thane and north MMR. The airport will also be connected with south Mumbai via the Atal Setu, also known as the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, and the upcoming Ulwe Coastal Road. The Ulwe Coastal Road, however, is expected to be ready only by 2026-end; till then, visitors will have to take the Uran-Panvel Road and the Ulwe-NMIA-Belapur Road after exiting Atal Setu to reach the airport. Targhar, the railway station nearest to NMIA on the Nerul-Uran and Belapur-Uran lines, became operational on December 15. But the station is located 3.5 kilometres away from the airport, and only 13 and 12 daily services are scheduled between Belapur and Uran and Nerul and Uran, respectively, in each direction. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) has plans to operate bus services between Targhar and terminal 1, while NMIAL has plans to run shuttle services in due course. "The railway link will largely be beneficial to the airport workforce coming from various parts of the MMR," said BVJK Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, NMIAL. CIDCO has plans to develop a Navi Mumbai Airport Express Metro, linking NMIA with CSMIA. The 34-km route, spanning 25.8 km elevated tracks and 8.2 km underground sections, will feature 20 stations - 14 elevated and six underground. The route will have multiple interchanges, including with the under construction Metro 2B (DN Nagar to Mandale-Mankhurd), the now ready Metro 3 (Aarey-JVLR to Cuffe Parade) and Metro 6 (Swami Samarth-Vikhroli). CIDCO is also extending the Belapur-Pendhar Metro, operationalised in November 2023, by 3.02-km till the airport. Called Navi Mumbai Metro 1A, the extension will be integrated with Mumbai Metro 8 at Sagar Sangam Interchange Station opposite the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) headquarters. CIDCO also has plans to build Navi Mumbai Metro Lines 2, 3 and 4 from Taloja to Khandeshwar, which will make NMIA accessible from the eastern side. Meanwhile, the NMIA management is coordinating with various authorities to develop a water terminal on Panvel Creek to facilitate transport for both passengers and cargo. The Maharashtra Maritime Board has appointed the Kochi Water Metro to assist in commissioning 10 new passenger water transport routes, of which four are proposed to connect with NMIA....