Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) is planning to shift all international flights operating on 14 routes from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) to Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) from the next summer schedule, beginning in March-end.
The 14 destinations include Bahrain, Dammam, Dhaka, Doha, Fujairah, Jakarta, Jeddah, Kathmandu, Kuwait City, Madinah, Muscat, Ras Al Khaimah, Riyadh and Sharjah. The proposed move will cover flights operated by both Indian and foreign airlines.
The development follows announcements by Air India Group and IndiGo on November 25 regarding the progressive transfer of 38 daily international flights from Mumbai to NMIA between December and July. MIAL has indicated that if foreign airlines do not agree to shift some of their operations to Navi Mumbai or voluntarily surrender their slots, it may transfer all flights serving the 14 destinations to the new airport.
The proposed restructuring is linked to the planned demolition of Mumbai airport’s Terminal 1. To accommodate domestic flights displaced by the demolition, MIAL intends to reduce international flight operations at Terminal 2 by approximately one-third. The airport operator had asked airlines to identify the slots they would temporarily vacate for the upcoming summer schedule, with November 3 set as the deadline.
MIAL has reportedly approached the Civil Aviation Ministry seeking approval to implement the proposed route transfers if the affected airlines fail to respond. The move would form part of a broader effort to redistribute flight operations between Mumbai’s existing airport and NMIA.
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