For a first-time visitor, landing in India's financial capital Mumbai can be quite an experience.
At approach, as the flight cuts across the Arabian Sea and flies past the mangrove marshes, the great metropolis emerges - swarming with railway tracks, towering skyscrapers and the dense habitation of Asia's largest shantytown pressed tightly against the airport's periphery wall.
For years, aviation experts have flagged the dangers and inefficiencies of operating an overworked airport right in the middle of such an urban setting, with buildings obstructing the flight path and safety and operational constraints preventing pilots from using the intersecting runways at once.
But a long overdue alternative is finally on the horizon.
After numerous delays and impediments, the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) is set for inauguration soon and expected to get operational in the coming months.
