Indian Air Force marks milestone with Su-30MKI's maiden landing at Navi Mumbai airport

An Indian Air Force Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jet landed at the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) for the first time on Thursday, marking a significant milestone in the airport's short operational history and a demonstration of the IAF's expanding reach across the country's growing civil aviation infrastructure.

NMIA, located in Ulwe in Raigad district, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 8, 2025, with commercial operations commencing on December 25, 2025. It serves as the second airport for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, alongside the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.

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Thursday's landing marks a step up from the aircraft's role during NMIA's pre-inauguration trials. When IAF's C-295 medium tactical transport aircraft made the inaugural landing at NMIA in October 2024, the Su-30MKI was present only for a low flypast over the runway making Thursday's fighter landing a first of its kind at the airport.

The Su-30MKI is a twin-jet multirole fighter aircraft variant of the Sukhoi Su-30, developed to India's specific operational requirements.

It is jointly developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and is powered by two Al-31FP turbojet engines, each generating a full afterburn thrust of 12,500 kgf, giving it a maximum speed of Mach 1.9.