Mumbai: After weeks of disagreement, Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL), which runs both Mumbai and Navi Mumbai airports, achieved a breakthrough in negotiations with
IndiGo and Air India Group agreeing to move a total 38 international flights that currently operate daily from Mumbai airport’s Terminal 2 (T2), largely West Asia-bound, to Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) between Dec and July. It will move about 3 million international passengers per annum from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai airport.
The announcements came on Sunday evening in two separate joint press releases issued by airlines with AAHL.
IndiGo said it will progressively transfer, from Feb next year, all its flights currently operating from Mumbai to Bahrain, Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah, Madinah, Kuwait, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Muscat, Dhaka and Jakarta to NMIA, shifting a total of 24 daily movements. IndiGo will also move a few of its domestic flights from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai in the coming months to enable seamless onward connections for these West Asia to/fro passengers. The airline didn’t give information on which domestic flights will move and when. IndiGo said it will announce the final dates for the transition of services to NMIA after final project coordination is completed and relevant operating approvals are secured.
Air India Express said it will progressively move, from Dec to March-end, 14 international daily flights currently operating to Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Doha, Muscat and Sharjah from Mumbai to NMIA.
With final approvals pending, both airlines haven’t yet announced when the changes will be reflected in their booking systems (see BOX).
Since Oct 1, Adani Airports has been trying to get airlines to relocate one-third of their international departure flights from T2 to NMIA, which amounts to relocation of around 5 million passengers per annum to the new airport. AAHL said this would help them accommodate the 5 million domestic passengers per annum displaced by the phased demolition and redevelopment of Mumbai airport’s Terminal 1.
“T1 demolition and redevelopment is now scheduled to begin in March 2027,” said a source. Preparatory work, including moving equipment and machinery to clear the area for demolition, will precede the start of demolition. The north end of T1 will be demolished, but the terminal will not shut down; it will handle two-thirds of its current domestic flights; the rest will move to Mumbai T2 or even NMIA.
At no point in time will T1 be entirely shut down.IndiGo and Air India Group’s total of 38 international flights will account for close to 3 million international passengers per annum moving from Mumbai T2 to NMIA, the source added. “It meets 60% of the 5-million-passenger capacity that needs to be freed up at Mumbai airport to facilitate the phased demolition and redevelopment of T1,” the source added.
The question now is about the remaining 40% capacity that needs to be freed up at T2.
Sources said that if airlines’ voluntary moves don’t bring the total to the 5-million-passenger target, AAHL would discuss temporarily suspending some Mumbai airport slots for selected destinations at the next slot allocation meeting with the ministry of civil aviation. “The airport would provide written confirmation that those slots would be reinstated once the redeveloped T1 is ready in 2030,” the source added.
The disagreement with airlines began on Oct 1, after AAHL decided to shift 265 of the 770 weekly international departure slots at Mumbai airport to NMIA, affecting 46 Indian and foreign carriers. Airlines contended that slot reduction cannot be carried out without discussion and agreement of airlines.
The next meeting between airlines and the airport is on Wednesday.
BOX: What do these changes mean for flyers?* Airline booking systems will reflect the shifting of flights from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai airport in the coming weeks and months
* For now, all IndiGo passengers who have booked or plan to book flights that operate between Mumbai airport and the said West Asian destinations for travel from Feb 2027 onwards will find later that their flights have moved to Navi Mumbai airport
* A small fraction of IndiGo passengers booking domestic flights to/from Mumbai airport for travel from Feb 2027 may also find their flights have moved to Navi Mumbai airport
* Similarly, some of the Air India Express passengers booked to fly from Dec onwards to the said West Asian destinations will find their flights have moved to Navi Mumbai
* Passengers booking early for summer travel to/from Mumbai airport might want to wait till airlines make these changes in their booking systems
* Other Indian carriers, such as Akasa Air, are also expected to move some of their current Mumbai flights to NMIA, said a source
