No flights will shift from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai airport, says Fadnavis
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has opposed plans to move international services to the new airport, proposing an alternative redevelopment sequence.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has opposed the proposal to move international flights from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai to Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA). According to reports from The Telegraph India and Economic Times, Fadnavis has written to the Union Civil Aviation Minister to object to the airport operator's plan to relocate services to 14 international destinations starting next summer.
Fadnavis has suggested an alternative redevelopment strategy for Terminal 1 to ensure operations continue without disruption. He proposed that Terminal 1B should be developed first, after which operations from Terminal 1A can be moved to 1B before the old terminal is demolished. A senior official in the Chief Minister's Office told PTI that this simultaneous development would remove the need to cancel or transfer flights.
The operator, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), had initially intended to move flights to destinations including Bahrain, Doha, Jeddah, Kathmandu, Kuwait, Muscat, and Riyadh by October 25. Following objections from foreign airlines, the transition was deferred to March 2027. MIAL aims to relocate or temporarily pause up to 260 international departures to manage domestic traffic during the redevelopment.
The redevelopment of Terminal 1 follows safety concerns identified in audits by Structwel in 2017 and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in 2024. While Adani Airport Holdings Ltd is the majority stakeholder in CSMIA, the Airports Authority of India holds a minority stake. Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, and Akasa Air have announced plans to move international operations to NMIA in phases.
The existing 15-mppa Terminal 1 is slated for complete demolition by March 2028, with the new facility expected to be ready by December 2030. MIAL has also informed airlines that international operations at Terminal 2 may be reduced by one-third starting in late March 2027 to handle domestic passengers displaced by the first phase of construction.