Mumbai: The transition plan to shift flight operations from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) to the newly operational Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) lacked approval from foreign airlines, which refused to sign off on the proposed shift.
Stakeholders' Meeting Ends Without Consensus On Terminal 1 Redevelopment Plan
A critical stakeholders’ meeting was held at Mumbai Airport on Wednesday to discuss the transition plan to make way for the redevelopment of CSMIA’s aging Terminal-1. The airport operator presented a detailed redevelopment roadmap and phased timelines for T-1 at the meeting, which continued for nearly 90 minutes. While the presentation came directly in response to demands made by carriers during prior rounds of talks, sources familiar with the development confirmed the session ended without consensus, leaving negotiations at a stalemate.
Though no international carrier has rejected the transition outright, only a small fraction of foreign airlines have agreed to the proposed schedule so far, sources said. Aviation industry experts note that negotiations with international carriers are inherently more complex than with domestic operators, as they involve regulatory approvals, bilateral air service agreements across multiple sovereign nations and tight network alignment across global hubs.
Airlines Asked To Submit Transition Plans By November 3
According to sources, the airport has asked airline operators to share their transition plans by November 3 to align with the plan to shift 5 million passengers to NMIA. At Wednesday's meeting, the airport operator assured foreign airlines that temporarily transitioned international traffic will be fully restored to CSMIA once the expansion of T-1 completes.
Notably, the airport has drafted a transition plan for around 3 million passengers with Indian carriers, which have already committed to a coordinated, phased transition starting December 2026. IndiGo has announced plans to transfer all its 12 international operations, along with a proportionate share of its domestic network, from CSMIA to NMIA between February and July 2027.
Air India Express will launch operations at NMIA in December 2026 with four daily domestic flights and move its West Asia network to the new airport from January 2027. Akasa Air also announced to shift its Jeddah flights to NMIA, marking the commencement of international operations from the new airport. However, the airport operator still awaits international airlines – including major European, Southeast Asian and Gulf-based international airlines – to align with the dual-airport strategy to shift another 2 million passengers by January.
Further rounds of bilateral discussions between the airport operator, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), and international airline representatives are expected in the coming weeks.
The push to relocate air traffic stems from an ambitious plan to completely redevelop CSMIA’s aging 60-year-old T-1 by 2030. According to structural audit reports, T1 requires extensive structural upgrades while the airport operator aims to expand capacity from 15 million passengers per annum (MPPA) to 20 MPPA. However, the operator believes demolition and reconstruction while operating at peak capacity is impossible at the space-constrained island airport. To support this, Adani Airport Holding Ltd (AAHL) has engineered the dual-airport strategy to decongest CSMIA. Under the plan, flight capacity will be systematically reassigned from T-1 and T-2 to the greenfield NMIA.
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