IndiGo, Air India Clear Runway to Move to Navi Mumbai Airport | Today’s news

New Delhi: After weeks of waiting against shifting flights from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai, IndiGo and Air India Group have become the first carriers to announce plans to shift some operations to the new airport, paving the way for the redevelopment of Terminal 1 (T1) at the city’s existing airport. Together, they will move 133 international departures a week to the new airport about 50 km away by July, which a person familiar with the discussions said would break the stalemate with operator Adani Airport Holdings Ltd.

The standoff, which has seen airlines resist the plan to move and question capacity curbs at Terminal 2 (T2), has prompted an intervention by the civil aviation ministry and a series of exchanges between the airport operator and carriers.

IndiGo will move 84 weekly departures, while the Air India Group — Air India and Air India Express — will move a total of 49, a person familiar with the discussions said. The dedicated services will be temporarily withdrawn from Mumbai, the person quoted above said.

Read also | The two airlines will shift flights to Navi Mumbai airport from December

In separate announcements on Sunday, IndiGo said it will gradually transfer 12 international departures a day to Navi Mumbai between February and July 2027. Air India’s low-cost arm Air India Express plans to launch four daily domestic flights in December, followed by a gradual shift of services to destinations in West Asia from January.

The country’s two biggest airlines are expected to handle nearly 3 million passengers together from Navi Mumbai airport, which is about 60% of the traffic affected by the proposed transition, the person said.

Both Mumbai and Navi Mumbai airports are managed by Adani Airport Holdings, the second largest private airport operator in the country after GMR Airports.

Read also | The standoff at Mumbai airport continues as Adani insists on limiting airline capacity

Adani has proposed to temporarily suspend 265 of the 770 weekly international departure slots at T2 from 25 October. The plan also included moving domestic traffic from T1 to T2, which necessitated capacity cuts, affecting about 5 million passengers a year. The proposed cut to international airport timings affected 46 airlines, including IndiGo, which was asked to terminate 74 of its 224 international departures per week; Air India, 33 out of 100; and Air India Express, seven out of 21.

In a joint statement with Adani Airport, IndiGo said it will shift 12 international departures daily from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) to Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA). Destinations include Bahrain, Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah, Medina, Kuwait, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Muscat, Dhaka and Jakarta.

IndiGo will also introduce a daily service to Kathmandu, taking its international network at Navi Mumbai to 12 destinations between February and July. While 12 daily departures will be transferred to 11 existing destinations, Kathmandu will be the next destination served by the new daily flight.

Read also | Why are airlines resisting the move to Navi Mumbai airport from Mumbai?

“IndiGo will also shift the domestic connectivity needed to service these international flights,” he said, adding that the relocation will free up capacity at the Mumbai airport for planned international expansion across Asia, Africa and Europe in 2027.

Air India Group said it will “start a phased transition of some of its West Asia services to Navi Mumbai International Airport, with Air India Express operating four daily domestic flights from December 2026 and plans to serve Kuwait and existing services to Oman from January 2027”.

Other destinations to be served by Air India Express from Navi Mumbai include Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Doha, Muscat and Sharjah. The transition is expected to be completed by April, which coincides with the International Air Transport Association’s 2027 Northern Summer season. The plan for Kuwait is subject to approval.

The two airlines’ transition timelines differ: Air India Express expects to complete the transition by April, while IndiGo’s international move will take until July.

However, international airlines have not yet announced any shift in operations. Emirates and Air France-KLM have expressed reluctance to split operations, citing unpreparedness of infrastructure in Navi Mumbai and lack of demand.

Weeks of disagreement

Most airlines are against shifting international operations from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai. Before agreeing, they sought detailed capacity assessments, terminal utilization data and a clear timetable for redevelopment.

Carriers also pointed to an additional 5 million passengers a year with capacity expected at T2 by March, questioning the need to cut international slots.

In a follow-up communication, the operator of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), said: “There is a capacity reduction of around 5 million passengers at Mumbai airport against the S27 schedule,” referring to the 2027 flight schedule that begins in late March. “Individual airlines have complete freedom to make their own decisions on or off the S27 schedule,” he added. MIAL is a joint venture between Adani Airport and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), with the latter holding a minority stake.

Adani Airports says slots at the Mumbai airport will be restored once the terminal is ready in 2030.

The airport operator and airlines, including international ones, are likely to meet again on October 28 to discuss the transition issue.