Why are airlines opposing operations from Adani’s Navi Mumbai Airport?

Airlines are locked in a tussle with Mumbai Airport operator, Adani Airport Holdings Limited, over 33% of international slots being moved to Navi Mumbai Airport, citing impact on passengers due to locked-in winter schedule, lack of consultation, operational constraints and higher user development fees.

Adani Airport has given an October 6 deadline to airlines to provide the details of operational slots they would want to discontinue from Mumbai Airport and move to Navi Mumbai Airport. The T1 of the airport is going for redevelopment from January 2027 onwards.

About 265 of 770 (33%) weekly international departure slots currently available at T2 will be temporarily discontinued from October 25 onwards. The biggest reductions are for IndiGo at 74 weekly slots, Air India at 33, Akasa Air at 11 and Air India Express seven. Several International carriers, including Etihad Airways and Emirates, face reductions of 10 weekly slots each.

Why are airlines opposing?

Airlines have raised concerns over a non-consultative decision by Adani Airports and that this will impact their winter schedule, for which the slots were confirmed, and bookings may have already been made. The winter schedule starts from the end of October 2026 till the end of March 2027.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) also wrote to the Civil Aviation Ministry opposing “forced” relocation of operations to Navi Mumbai Airport. It raised concerns about the airport’s readiness in ground handling, aircraft maintenance approvals, catering, cargo facilities, crew accommodation, and connectivity.

International logistics carrier Challenge Group has announced a temporary suspension of its Mumbai operations, citing the inability of the present NMIA operating setup to provide the reliability and certainty required for its cargo operations. Opposing the move, Air France-KLM said splitting its long-haul operations between the two airports will impact its operations.

Who pays a higher UDF?

Navi Mumbai Airport has a 3.5x User Development Fee (UDF) compared to the Mumbai airport. Adani Airport said that it plans to offer cash vouchers to international passengers to offset the difference in the UDF levied at Navi Mumbai and Mumbai Airports. The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) decides the UDF.

At Navi Mumbai Airport, each departing domestic passenger pays UDF of Rs 620, while the amount is Rs 1,225 for an international departing passenger. The UDF is Rs 270 for each arriving domestic passenger and Rs 525 for each arriving international passenger. It can further increase the UDF by 6% from April 2027 onwards.

Domestic passengers pay Rs 175 for departure and Rs 75 for arrival, while international business class passengers pay Rs 695 and economy class Rs 615 for departure at Mumbai Airport.

The airline collects the UDF from passengers in tickets and passes it on to the operators.

What operator says?

Of Mumbai Airport’s approximately 55 million passengers per annum (mppa), only around 5 mppa (about 9%) will be temporarily deoperationalised. To ensure continuity of operations and minimise inconvenience to passengers, AAHL has provided airlines with the option to temporarily relocate their operations to Navi Mumbai International Airport at their discretion.

T1 redevelopment will begin in January 2027, which will increase its capacity by 33% - up to 20 mppa from the current 15 mppa.

“Extensive consultations with airlines on the future of Terminal 1 have been ongoing since 2020, and the proposed redevelopment was also presented before AERA and subsequently incorporated into the approved tariff framework. While we appreciate the concerns expressed by certain airlines, passenger safety must remain paramount, and any further delay in commencing this process could adversely impact the safety and convenience of millions of travellers,” said Arun Bansal, CEO, Adani Airport Holdings Limited.

Navi Mumbai International Airport is a modern, fully equipped airport and has the infrastructure and capacity to handle the additional passenger traffic that would be transitioned from Mumbai Airport.