MUMBAI: After weeks of to and fro and disagreements, Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL) which runs both Mumbai and Navi Mumbai airports achieved a breakthrough with IndiGo and Air India Group deciding to move a total 38 international flights a day from Mumbai’s terminal 2 to Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) before the beginning of summer schedule around March end.Since Oct 1, Adani Airports has been trying to get airlines to relocate one-third of their international departure flights from Mumbai T2 to NMIA, which is relocation around 5 million passengers per annum in order to accommodate passengers displaced by the phased demolition and redevelopment of Mumbai airport’s Terminal 1.While IndiGo plans to move 12 international departures a day from Mumbai to NMIA, Air India Express will be moving 7 international departures a day to the new airport.Together with arrival flights, the two airlines would be moving a total of 38 international flights from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai airport before March end, next year.The T1 redevelopment is now scheduled to begin in March 2027, said a source.The relocation of an equivalent volume of traffic from T2 to NMIA is intended to create the capacity headroom required to handle the domestic passengers displaced by T1 partial demolition.Preparatory work, including moving equipment and machinery to clear the area for demolition, will precede the start of construction.Air India Express will progressively move its flights from Mumbai to Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Doha, Muscat and Sharjah to NMIA, with the transition expected to be completed by the March end, said the airline and airport in a joint press statement issued Sunday evening.Services to Kuwait are planned from Dec 2026, subject to approvals, while existing services to Oman are to move from Jan 2027.In another joint press statement, this time by IndiGo and AAHL the airline said it plans to transfer 12 daily international departures from Mumbai to NMIA from Feb 2027.The shift will cover services to Bahrain, Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah, Madinah, Kuwait, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Muscat, Dhaka and Jakarta. The airline plans to launch flights from NMIA to Kathmandu next year.Most importantly, IndiGo said it would shift the necessary domestic connections to facilitate onward travel for international passengers.The airline did not state how many domestic flights will be moved from Mumbai to NMIA, when will they be moved or which destination flights would be moved.The announcements come amid a prolonged standoff between Mumbai airport operator Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), part of the Adani group, and airlines over the redistribution of capacity during the T1 redevelopment.On Oct 1, MIAL had proposed shifting 265 international departure slots from T2 to NMIA, affecting 46 international airlines.Carriers questioned the operational feasibility of moving flights to a new airport, citing challenges involving aircraft deployment, domestic connections and passenger convenience.The civil aviation ministry intervened, asking MIAL and airlines to return to negotiations.Airlines were given a reprieve from the proposed Oct 26 deadline for shifting operations, leaving the broader question of capacity redistribution for the summer 2027 schedule to be resolved.The redevelopment is intended to modernise T1 and increase its annual passenger-handling capacity from 15 million to 20 million.The latest airline announcements indicate progress towards a phased transition, although the precise timing and extent of further operational changes remain to be finalised.
