Airlines Push Back Against Mumbai Airport's Plan to Move International Flights

Airlines want more time to submit plans for temporarily moving international flights to the Navi Mumbai International Airport. Mumbai International Airport Ltd asked airlines to send in these plans by November 3 ahead of the redevelopment of Terminal 1.

Flight Shift Details

At a meeting that lasted about 90 minutes with 50 officials from 35 airlines, the operator presented its plans to temporarily shift international traffic that accounts for five million passengers per year to the new airport. Airlines indicated that any transition should not happen before the winter 2027 schedule because they need time to plan. They also opposed any single-sided reduction in flight slots from the summer 2027 schedule. IndiGo, the Air India group and Akasa Air have already finalized plans to move international flights accounting for about three million passengers to the new airport. However, international airlines have not yet agreed to the operator's proposal to shift the remaining traffic from Terminal 2 during the summer 2027 schedule.

Redevelopment Plan

The temporary move is part of a plan to redevelop Terminal 1, which was built in 1964. Structural audits by Structwel in 2017 and IIT Bombay in 2024 pointed out safety and structural concerns that make a replacement necessary. Demolition is set to start in April 2027 and finish by December 2030. This project will raise the terminal's yearly capacity from 15 million passengers to 20 million. To handle domestic traffic during this work, the airport will expand the north-west pier of Terminal 2 by March 2029.

Context

Major airports often need to redevelop older terminals to handle growing passenger numbers safely, which requires shifting flights to secondary airports in the region. The Navi Mumbai airport provides a new option to ease congestion as air travel continues to grow across the country.