No flights to shift to Navi Mumbai airport, says Maha CM Fadnavis: What’s happening at Mumbai airports

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has opposed plans to shift international flights from Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) to the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), saying no flights should be moved out of Mumbai. He has written to the Union civil aviation minister proposing an alternative plan to redevelop Mumbai airport's Terminal 1 (T1) without shutting it down entirely.

"I have written to them to first develop Terminal 1B, shift 1A to 1B and then take down the existing 1A terminal," Fadnavis said, as mentioned in a report in Times of India.

The intervention comes amid a dispute over Mumbai airport operator's plans to redistribute flights ahead of T1's redevelopment. Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL), which holds 74% in Mumbai airport operator Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), has proposed shifting flights connecting Mumbai with 14 international destinations to NMIA from next summer. The Airports Authority of India holds the remaining 26%.

The destinations include Bahrain, Doha, Dhaka, Jeddah, Riyadh, Muscat, Kuwait City and Kathmandu, among others.

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MIAL has informed airlines that it cannot accommodate their requested Summer 2027 slots and that a temporary reduction in international operations at Terminal 2 (T2) will be necessary to make room for five million passengers annually displaced by the first phase of T1's demolition.

However, the proposed relocation has faced resistance from airlines and the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which has urged a phased redevelopment to avoid a wholesale loss of capacity.

Under the existing plan, the entire 15-million-passenger-per-annum T1 is scheduled to be demolished by March 2028, with reconstruction beginning thereafter. Fadnavis's proposal seeks to develop replacement infrastructure before taking down existing facilities.

The redevelopment is intended to address structural and safety concerns at the six-decade-old terminal, commissioned in 1964. The new terminal is expected to increase annual handling capacity from 15 million to 20 million passengers.

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Meanwhile, the proposed flight redistribution is expected to affect around 5 million passengers annually, or 9% of CSMIA's traffic. Around 91% of international passenger traffic will remain unaffected, with 39 of the 50 international airlines continuing operations at Mumbai airport, as mentioned in an agency report that cited people in the know.

Major carriers, including Emirates, Etihad Airways, Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Lufthansa and Air France, are expected to remain at T2.

Domestic airlines IndiGo, Air India and Akasa Air have also announced plans to shift some services to NMIA as the second airport prepares to absorb part of Mumbai's growing aviation traffic.