Navi Mumbai airport presents big opportunity for IndiGo, says CEO Willie Walsh

New Delhi, Navi Mumbai airport presents a big opportunity for IndiGo as it aims to expand the international long haul network and the decision to partly shift overseas flights to the airport from Mumbai is in the interest of the airline, the carrier's CEO Willie Walsh said on Monday.

Against the backdrop of foreign airlines opposing the proposed partial shifting of international flights from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai airport, Walsh, an aviation industry veteran, also said that he was not concerned about what other airlines are saying at the moment.

In October, IndiGo, Air India and Akasa Air agreed to partially shift their international flights to the Navi Mumbai airport in the coming months.


Both Mumbai and Navi Mumbai airports are part of Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL), which is set to start renovation works of Mumbai airport's Terminal 1.

Making it clear that IndiGo is not being forced to shift international operations to Navi Mumbai, Walsh said it "certainly makes sense for us to move some of our operations to Navi Mumbai, given that we see that as being a critical part of our network in the future."

"I think Navi Mumbai represents a big opportunity for IndiGo given our ambition to grow our long haul international network. So obviously our future will be at Mumbai and at Navi Mumbai, and we think the combination of both of those will work very well for IndiGo. So I am not hopefully concerned about what other airlines are saying at the moment.

"I think the decisions we will take in terms of Navi Mumbai are decisions that are in the best interest of IndiGo. And we have a good relationship with the airport at the moment. I think we can understand that Terminal 1 does need to be renovated," Walsh said at a briefing in the national capital.

Walsh also mentioned that he had a very good dialogue with AAHL CEO Arun Bansal and was pleased with meeting him.

"... we have committed to sit down and talk to one another on a regular basis and so I am hoping that you know he will be able to understand the challenges that we face...," he said.

With renovation of Terminal 1 (T1) at the Mumbai airport set to start next year, MIAL wants airlines to partially shift their international flights from Terminal 2 (T2) to Navi Mumbai International Airport so that the vacated space at T2 will be utilised by the carriers for domestic operations. The renovation of T1 is estimated to be completed by 2030.

One of the country's busiest airports, Mumbai Airport has two terminals - T1 and T2. T1 handles domestic operations, while international flights operate from T2. It is operated by Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL).

At the briefing, Walsh also said IndiGo wants to make sure that it has the capacity to expand and therefore, having a strong footprint in Navi Mumbai is very much in the long-term interest of the airline.

To a query from PTI, Walsh said airport charges are too high in India and having lower charges as well as taxes will provide the opportunity to expand in India.

IndiGo is the country's largest airline with a domestic market share of over 65 per cent and operates around 2,200 flights daily.