'Navi Mumbai Airport Not Ready For International Flights,' Says Emirates; NMIA Refutes Claim

Mumbai: Emirates, one of the largest foreign airlines operating in India, has questioned Navi Mumbai International Airport’s (NMIA) preparedness to handle international flights, citing the lack of facilities such as catering and cargo warehousing. The airport has rejected the concerns, with sources pointing to its existing cargo-handling capabilities and scalable inflight kitchen.

Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, Emirates’ senior vice-president for commercial operations in West Asia and the Indian Ocean, said airlines could find it difficult to shift operations to NMIA until the entire aviation ecosystem was in place. “The airport is not ready,” Ahmad said in Delhi on Wednesday when asked about plans to move some international flights to the new airport.

“At an airport, you will require a facility for catering. You will require a facility, for example, for cargo warehousing. You will require those elements. Until it gets fully built into an ecosystem, I think it’s going to be difficult for any of the airlines to shift there,” he said, as quoted by The Times of India.

NMIA Counters Concerns Over Facilities

According to the report, sources at NMIA have disputed Emirates’ assessment, saying the airport has already handled cargo and has a scalable inflight kitchen. They also pointed out that Emirates sources catering for its India-UAE flights from Dubai itself rather than relying on catering facilities in India.

The disagreement comes amid plans by Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), which operates the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), to shift some international flights to NMIA to facilitate the redevelopment of the older Terminal 1 at Mumbai airport.

The proposed shift has been deferred until the summer, according to the report. The transfer of flights is expected to depend on the readiness of supporting infrastructure and coordination between airports and airlines.

Emirates Cites Lack Of Additional Flying Rights

Ahmad also said Emirates could consider operating flights to newer airports, including Navi Mumbai and Noida, if additional flying rights or bilateral air-service entitlements became available. He said Indian and Dubai-based carriers were already fully utilising their existing bilateral entitlements, limiting the scope for expanding services without additional rights. Although Navi Mumbai could provide airlines access to the Pune market, launching operations would require enhanced flying rights, Ahmad added.

The remarks highlight two issues in the proposed expansion of international air services from NMIA; the availability of supporting airport infrastructure and the allocation of additional traffic rights between India and the UAE. While Emirates has raised concerns over facilities it considers necessary for shifting flights, NMIA reportedly maintained that key capabilities are already available at the airport.

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