Navi Mumbai airport flight shift explained: which IndiGo and Air India flights move, when, and why airlines pushed back

Mumbai now has two international airports run by the same group, and for a while it looked as if the group would simply decide which one you fly from. It didn't quite work out that way. What has emerged instead is a slower, negotiated move, and it tells you a lot about how airport capacity actually gets shared in India.

What was announced

IndiGo plans to shift 12 daily international departures from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) to Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) from February 2027, India Today reported. The move covers all its existing Mumbai services to Bahrain, Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah, Madinah, Kuwait, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Muscat, Dhaka and Jakarta. A new daily Kathmandu flight takes its Navi Mumbai international network to 12 destinations between February and July 2027. Some domestic flights will move too, so that passengers can connect.

Air India Group has its own plan. Air India Express will start four daily domestic flights from Navi Mumbai in December, then add Kuwait and shift its Oman services from January 2027, Hindustan Times reported. Its services to Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Doha, Muscat and Sharjah will move gradually, with the transition expected to finish by the IATA northern summer 2027 season. The group said operating from both airports would let it keep its existing slots at CSMIA.

Final dates and schedules will come once approvals are in place, according to India Today. So if you have a Gulf ticket for March, do not panic yet. Do check the airport code on your booking.

Why any of this is happening

The trigger is Terminal 1 at the old airport. Adani Airports plans to redevelop it and lift its capacity from 15 million to 20 million passengers a year, The Economic Times reported. Rebuilding a terminal while it is in use means running fewer flights through it for a while, with the project expected to be completed by 2030.

The original plan was blunter. Mumbai International Airport Limited, which runs CSMIA, proposed moving 265 of its 770 weekly international departures to Navi Mumbai from 25 October, affecting about 46 airlines, according to India Today. Airlines objected, the Civil Aviation Ministry asked for a deferral, and on 13 October the operator said international allocations would stay unchanged through the winter schedule, which ends on 27 March 2027.

Why airlines pushed back

The Airline Operators Committee in Mumbai, which represents 47 airlines, argued that the case for cutting capacity had not been made, Indian Aviation News reported. It pointed out that Terminal 1 handles fewer than 10 million passengers a year and that about five million passengers' worth of extra capacity is expected at Terminal 2 by March 2027. Carriers asked for structural safety assessments, terminal-wise capacity figures and proof of compliance with slot rules. They also warned that splitting operations between two airports about 50 km apart raises costs and complicates crew and aircraft planning.

That last point is the one passengers will feel. A connection that once meant walking between gates could, on a bad day, mean a road trip.

How busy is Navi Mumbai so far

Not very, yet. Since opening, NMIA has handled 35,88,675 passengers, of whom only 8,442 were international, BW Businessworld reported. It has just added nine domestic destinations, including Guwahati, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Bagdogra. The airport has capacity for 20 million passengers in its first phase and is designed for up to 90 million when complete.

Commercial flights began on 25 December 2025, and international flights started on 15 July 2026 with an Air India Express service to Abu Dhabi, India Today noted. The Adani Group controls both airports. AAHL owns 74% of MIAL, which holds 74% of the Navi Mumbai company.

Our view

The negotiated version is better than the decreed one. Moving short Gulf routes first, with domestic feeders alongside, is the sensible order, because those are the flights where a second airport costs passengers the least.

The real test is connections. Navi Mumbai will only feel like a second airport, rather than a distant one, when a passenger landing from Jeddah can catch a domestic flight onward without crossing the city. Until the schedules prove that, keep an eye on the three letters on your ticket.