Save this picture! Previous airport works by Zaha Hadid Architects include the Beijing Daxing International Airport, slated as the world's largest airport terminal. Image Image by Methanoia © Zaha Hadid Architects

Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) has won an international competition for the design of the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA). A long-awaited infrastructural project for India’s largest city, the scheme addresses capacity issues for the existing Chhatrapati Shivaji International (CSI) Airport, which features a terminal designed by SOM.

ZHA’s brief will encompass the design and execution of new NMIA terminal building, an Air Traffic Control Tower, and associated access. The airport will be situated across Mumbai Harbor, connected to the city by a planned rail link, and access to national rail networks. ZHA's previous work in the airport sector includes the Beijing Daxing International Airport (pictured), which is slated to be the world's largest airport terminal.

The terminal building, and accompanying runway, represents the first phase of a strategy which will see the construction of two runways, handling 80 flights per hour. The scheme is envisioned as a secondary facility to support the single-runway CSI Airport, which currently handles one departure per minute.

We are very proud to have been awarded the Navi Mumbai International Airport that will be a much needed addition to Mumbai’s infrastructure and an additional gateway to India. Our ambition is for the design to speak to India’s future, while celebrating its present and honoring its past – Cristiano Ceccato, Project Director, ZHA.

With total capacity projected at over 60 million passengers per year, NMIA symbolizes the rapid expansion of India’s aviation sector, with the number of operational aircraft set to grow by more than 200% in the coming years.

The aviation sector worldwide is moving very fast... we cannot afford to lag. For 70 years, there was no aviation policy in India, which we have now implemented to provide all-round connectivity –Narenda Modi, Prime Minister of India.

Prime Minister Narenda Modi laid the foundation stone of the new airport in February 2018, with the project placed on a fast-track program for completion. The first flights are expected to take off by the end of 2019.

News via: Zaha Hadid Architects.