MUMBAI: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has opposed Mumbai airport operator’s plan to shift international flights to 14 destinations to Navi Mumbai airport from next summer, saying no flights would be moved out of Mumbai.He has written to the union civil aviation minister on the issue.Fadnavis on Tuesday said he has proposed an alternative sequence for Terminal 1 (T1) redevelopment that would allow the existing terminal to remain operational until its replacement is ready.“I have written to them to first develop Terminal 1B, shift 1A to 1B and then take down the existing 1A terminal,” Fadnavis said.His proposal would allow the airport to demolish and reconstruct T1 in stages rather than shut it down entirely before starting construction of the replacement.The Airports Authority of India (AAI), a central government entity, holds 26% stake in Mumbai airport, with the remaining 74% held by Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL).The issue of moving some flights from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai airport has been contentious.Last month, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) informed airlines about its plans to reduce international operations at Terminal 2 (T2) by a third from the Summer 2027 schedule, beginning March-end, to accommodate 5 million passengers per annum (mppa) of domestic traffic displaced by the first phase of T1 demolition.Last week, AAHL informed the ministry that it plans to move flights connecting Mumbai with 14 international destinations to Navi Mumbai from next summer.The destinations are Bahrain, Dammam, Dhaka, Doha, Fujairah, Jakarta, Jeddah, Kathmandu, Kuwait City, Madinah, Muscat, Ras Al Khaimah, Riyadh and Sharjah.MIAL has told airlines that it cannot accommodate their requested Summer 2027 slots and that a temporary transition out of T2 will be necessary.The proposed shift has faced resistance from airlines. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents airlines globally, had urged the ministry to adopt a phased redevelopment approach, whereby portions of T1 would be demolished and reconstructed sequentially to avoid a wholesale loss of capacity.The entire 15-mppa (million passengers per annum) T1 is scheduled to be demolished by March 2028, with reconstruction beginning only thereafter.The new T1 is expected to be ready by December 2030. Airlines sources said that shutting T1 completely would leave Mumbai airport with a substantial capacity deficit for three years or more.
