Raut thanks Fadnavis for letter opposing shift of Mumbai flights, calls Navi Mumbai airport unnecessary

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has written to the Union civil aviation ministry saying that not a single international flight should be moved from Mumbai to the Navi Mumbai airport. Sanjay Raut, a leader of the Thackeray faction, has thanked the chief minister for this stand.

Speaking to the media, Raut said he congratulated the chief minister. According to him, the Navi Mumbai airport is entirely unnecessary. Raut said the way it was built is not of international standard and the structure is also dangerous. He said that moving the international airport out of Mumbai amounted to reducing the importance of Mumbai. Raut also said that someone wants to grab the airport's land and someone has an eye on it. He reminded that there was a time when Fadnavis himself used to praise the Navi Mumbai airport.

Raut claimed that most airlines of the Arab countries of the Gulf have refused to land at Navi Mumbai. According to him, European airlines have also objected, saying the airport is dangerous from the safety point of view. Raut said land was lost, homes were lost and the environment was damaged for it. He demanded that it should come out whose folly led to this entire exercise.

Raut said Mumbai's airport should stay in Mumbai and can be improved. According to him, a jungle of slums has grown around the airport. He said they should be properly rehabilitated and that area should be expanded for the airport. He asked whether the entire airport is to be picked up and taken to Navi Mumbai. He said he has tried twice to go to the Navi Mumbai airport and got very tired.

Raut said the enthusiasm needed at an international airport is not visible at Navi Mumbai. According to him, even domestic flights should not land there. He asked whether the lives of international passengers matter and those of domestic passengers do not. Raut said that in Delhi one can reach the city from the airport by underground metro, but Navi Mumbai has no such facility. He said there are neither buses nor taxis there, containers lie gathering dust, and one has to find a way through them. According to him, this is not what is called an international airport.

Raut said the chief minister has seen good sense and he thanks God for it. He also said Adani is not the chief minister of Maharashtra and not the prime minister of the country. According to Raut, Maharashtra's interest, and the interest of the state's industries and investors, must be protected.