Emirates and Air France-KLM are among several international carriers resisting plans to shift some of their Mumbai operations to the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), citing concerns over infrastructure and operational efficiency. The disagreement comes as Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) seeks to temporarily relocate around five million passengers annually by March 2027 to facilitate redevelopment work at Terminal 1.
Akasa Air recently announced that it would move its Mumbai–Jeddah services from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) to NMIA. IndiGo and Air India have also confirmed plans to transfer some international operations to the new facility.
However, foreign airlines have expressed reservations. According to reports, Emirates has questioned whether NMIA has the capacity to accommodate large-scale international airline operations. Air France-KLM has described the proposed arrangement of operating services between two airports as “operationally inefficient”.
The issue was discussed at a meeting on Wednesday attended by representatives of more than 35 airlines and MIAL officials. The discussions focused on the proposed transition, with several carriers requesting additional time before relocating their flights.
MIAL initially intended to begin the partial transfer from October 25, 2026, but postponed the implementation to March 2027 following objections from foreign operators. At Wednesday’s meeting, the airport operator asked airlines to submit their transition plans by November 3. It also assured them that the temporarily shifted international traffic, estimated at five million passengers per annum (mppa), would return to Mumbai airport after the expansion of Terminal 2.
According to PTI, several airlines have sought time until the winter schedule beginning October 2027. They have also called for Terminal 1 redevelopment to be undertaken in phases and opposed any unilateral reduction in flight slots from the summer schedule starting March 2027.
MIAL’s plan involves moving some international services from Terminal 2 to NMIA, allowing the vacated capacity to support domestic operations during Terminal 1’s redevelopment, which is expected to be completed by 2030.
CSMIA can handle approximately 55 million passengers annually, while NMIA’s initial capacity is 20 million. Both airports are operated by Adani Airport Holdings Limited.
Source: Mint
