Shift to Navi Mumbai or suspend flights: Mumbai airport gives airlines options

Mumbai | New Delhi: The operator of Mumbai's airport on Monday told airlines that they were free to shift some or all of their operations to the new airport in Navi Mumbai, suspend services until its Terminal 1 reopens in 2030, or pursue other options from summer 2027, according to people aware of the development.

The redevelopment at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) requires a temporary reduction in capacity by about 5 million passengers a year at the existing airport, as per Adani Group-controlled Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL). The airport currently can handle 55 million passengers a year.

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MIAL's latest letter to the Airline Operators Committee (AOC) comes amid a dispute over the proposed transfer of international traffic to Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), also controlled by Adani Airport Holdings. The committee that represents commercial airlines said its members had not agreed to the shift or consented to any reduction or cancellation of their existing slots at CSMIA.

MIAL, meanwhile, said individual carriers could decide their operating plans and promised to restore their historic slots after Terminal 1 was redeveloped.

MIAL said airlines had complete freedom to make their own decisions regarding the S27 schedule, according to the people. It said consultations between airlines' network-planning teams and its Airport Operations Control Centre were voluntary and intended to provide a collaborative forum to discuss alternatives.

The AOC rejected the suggestion that individual consultations implied acceptance of the proposed shift, said the people. "AOC member airlines have not agreed to the proposed transfer of international operations from CSMIA to NMIA, nor consented to any reduction or cancellation of its allocated slots at CSMIA," it said, according to them.

The committee also questioned the need for capacity curbs, citing Terminal 1's current passenger-handling capacity of below 10 million passengers a year and an expected additional capacity of 5 million passengers at Terminal 2 by March 2027. It said MIAL had provided no substantiated justification for reducing or cancelling slots.

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The AOC sought a comprehensive Terminal 1 refurbishment plan, detailing the scope of work, structural safety assessment, implementation phases, timelines and terminal-wise capacity and utilisation data. It asked MIAL to respond by 5 pm on October 21, confirming that no unilateral action affecting traffic allocation or slots would be taken pending consultation and compliance with the Ministry of Civil Aviation's May 2013 slot-allocation guidelines and IATA's Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines.

The two sides are scheduled to meet on October 28 to discuss the arrangements.

For international airlines operating limited flights, having two bases for the same city is not cost effective. Stefan Gumuseli, general manager of Air France-KLM said it would reduce operational efficiency, split teams and ground-handling arrangements, and make it harder to manage its long-haul network.

Airlines have also pointed to the operational and commercial difficulties of moving services between two airports around 50 km apart. Splitting operations between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai could affect aircraft and crew planning, ground handling, maintenance, connectivity and other airline operations, according to them.