Mumbai: Foreign airlines operating from Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport have recommended moving some international flights to Navi Mumbai International Airport while Terminal 1 (T1) is rebuilt, according to reliable sources.
Mumbai International Airport Ltd. Chief Airport Officer Vishnu Mohan Jhahas informed the Civil Aviation Ministry that the foreign airlines recommended the arrangement to Adani Airport Holdings Ltd. (AAHL), the operator of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), sources said.
Indian airlines IndiGo, Air India Group, and Akasa Air have already agreed to move these services to the new airport.
From March 28, 2027, the start of the IATA Summer Schedule, the CSMIA will temporarily suspend slots for 14 international destinations — Bahrain, Dammam, Dhaka, Doha, Fujairah, Jakarta, Jeddah, Kathmandu, Kuwait City, Madinah, Muscat, Ras Al Khaimah, Riyadh, and Sharjah. These flights will be shifted to Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA.
The approach would put all flights on each route at one airport in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) rather than split them between two. About 91 per cent of CSMIA’s existing capacity would be unaffected, the airport chief has stated in the letter to the Civil Aviation Ministry.
Mumbai International Airport Ltd needs to move about 5 million passengers per annum (mppa) of traffic out of CSMIA, of which Indian carriers account for about 3 mppa. The shifting of all Gulf flights to one airport is aimed at minimising passenger inconvenience.
IndiGo announced last month that it would progressively move 12 daily international departures to NMIA, taking its international network there to 12 destinations between February and July 2027.
Air India Group also said that Air India Express would start four daily domestic flights from the NMIA in December. Planned Kuwait services, subject to approvals, and existing Oman services follow from January 2027. Services to Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Doha, Muscat, and Sharjah are due to move by Northern Summer 2027.
Akasa Air said its Mumbai-Jeddah service would fly from the NMIA from December.
Commissioned in 1964, the aging T1 is facing severe safety and structural vulnerabilities. These have been highlighted in independent audits by Structwel and IIT Bombay, which have made replacing this sixty-year-old facility an urgent necessity for public safety.
The CSMIA has a total capacity of around 55 mppa. The temporary transition of 5 mppa traffic means that 91 per cent of the current traffic there remains unaffected. The total capacity of the CSMIA after the redevelopment of T1 and T2 will increase to 65 mppa, a senior official said.
The transition will be phased to avoid any disruptions in flying. Demolition begins in April 2027. The completion of the new T1 is targeted for December 2030.
It was clarified by MIAL that the T1 demolition and the resultant temporary reduction in CSMIA traffic are already incorporated in the approved tariff order, following extensive stakeholder consultations.
Under a modified variable tariff plan approved in September, new international routes at NMIA pay no landing fee in year one and half the rack rate in year two. Long-haul routes of more than 5,000 km get a discount in year three as well. The NMIA is also paying cash vouchers to international passengers to offset the higher user development fee at CSMIA.
The NMIA has an initial capacity of 20 mppa. Its international facilities include 55 check-in counters, 24 electronic gates, 26 emigration counters, and 32 immigration counters.
(IANS)
