Airlines seek govt support to protect Mumbai Airport slots

Mumbai: Airlines operating from the Mumbai airport renewed calls for intervention from the civil aviation ministry over a proposed capacity reduction from next April, as operator Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) is preparing to shift part of its international flight schedule to the new Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), about 50 km away. Adani Airport Holdings runs both airports and is a partner in MIAL with the Airports Authority of India.

The Airline Operators Committee-Mumbai (AOC), which represents 46 of 47 airlines operating at the airport, has asked the ministry to protect existing flight slots, saying MIAL hasn't adequately justified the proposed reduction.

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MIAL plans to close Terminal 1 for redevelopment from April and shift 265 of Terminal 2's 770 weekly international departure slots to Navi Mumbai, cutting Mumbai airport's annual passenger capacity by 5 million. While IndiGo, Air India Express and Akasa Air have agreed to move some international flights, foreign carriers, including Emirates and Air France-KLM, have sought until October 2027 to split operations, citing concerns over infrastructure and passenger demand at NMIA.

In an email to civil aviation secretary Samir Kumar Sinha on November 2, reviewed by ET, the AOC said MIAL had communicated the capacity reduction at an October 28 meeting "as a unilateral decision, without adequate justification or transparent disclosure of the actual available capacity at CSMIA".

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The committee has asked the ministry to direct MIAL and the airport's slot coordinator to approve historical slots sought by existing airlines in their initial submissions for the summer 2027 schedule, ahead of the November 5 deadline for the Slot Allocation List.

"We further request that no historical slots be denied, reduced, cancelled or reallocated unilaterally, without due process and adherence to the MoCA and IATA Slot Guidelines," the committee said.

The latest escalation follows an earlier dispute over the relocation of international flights. Ministry intervention last month and meetings on October 13 and 28 have failed to resolve differences.