As of 9:00 AM IST, Monday 26 October 2026. Based on the joint statement by IndiGo and Adani Airport Holdings dated 25 October 2026, an Air India Group statement reported by PTI (via The Hindu), and Business Standard's analysis using Cirium schedule data. Final transition dates still need project coordination and operating approvals, the companies said. Passengers should check their departure airport before travelling.
IndiGo and the Air India Group will move a large share of their Mumbai international flights to the new Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) over the coming months. The plan, announced on Sunday, frees space at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) so that its old Terminal 1 can be rebuilt. It also breaks with foreign airlines, which have pushed back against being moved.
What IndiGo is moving
- 12 daily international departures will move from CSMIA to NMIA between February and July 2027.
- That covers all of IndiGo's current Mumbai flights to Bahrain, Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah, Madinah, Kuwait, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah, Muscat, Dhaka and Jakarta.
- A new daily Kathmandu service will take IndiGo's NMIA international network to 12 destinations.
- IndiGo will also move the domestic flights needed to connect passengers to those international services.
Business Standard, using Cirium data, said IndiGo runs 233 international departures a week from Mumbai. The 84 weekly departures moving to Navi Mumbai are about 36% of that.
What Air India Group is moving
- Air India Express services to Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Doha, Muscat and Sharjah will move to NMIA progressively, with the process due to finish by the IATA Northern Summer 2027 season.
- Air India Express will start four daily domestic flights from Navi Mumbai in December 2026, Business Standard reported.
- Services to Kuwait and existing services to Oman are due to start shifting from January 2027, with Kuwait subject to approvals.
Business Standard counted 46 weekly departures on those six routes, about 34% of the group's 134 weekly international departures from Mumbai.
Why the shift is happening
Both Mumbai airports are controlled by the Adani Group. The operator wants to demolish and rebuild CSMIA's Terminal 1 by 2030. Business Standard reported that about 5 million passengers a year of capacity needs to come out of service from the summer 2027 schedule for that work to start. The first phase aims to move about 5 million passengers to Navi Mumbai, and IndiGo's and Air India's moves account for about 3 million of them, roughly 60%, according to PTI.
The airport operator says airlines will keep their historical slots at CSMIA and that those slots will be restored once Terminal 1 is rebuilt. The rebuild is meant to lift Terminal 1's yearly capacity from 15 million to 20 million passengers. CSMIA handles about 55 million passengers a year, and about 91% of its traffic will stay there during the work, the operator says.
Foreign airlines are not on board yet
Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) had proposed moving 265 of 770 weekly international departures to Navi Mumbai, and the airlines' operators committee had rejected the plan until now, Business Standard reported. Air France-KLM said on 30 September that splitting its operations between two airports did not make operational sense. Emirates said on 14 October that Navi Mumbai needed more facilities before it could handle large-scale international traffic. Earlier this month, HorizonDesk reported that MIAL had set aside the slot cuts for the winter schedule while talks on Terminal 1 continued.
What it means
- For IndiGo: the space freed at CSMIA lets it add new routes to Asia, Africa and Europe in 2027 with its A320, A321 and long-range A321XLR jets, the airline said.
- For Adani Airports: two of India's biggest airlines committing to NMIA helps fill the new airport, which is built for 20 million passengers a year in its first phase and up to 90 million later.
- For passengers: flights to the Gulf, Dhaka and Jakarta on IndiGo and Air India Express will increasingly leave from Navi Mumbai. Check the departure airport on bookings for travel from early 2027, and allow for transfers between the two airports.
What to watch
- Final transition dates, which IndiGo will announce after approvals.
- Whether foreign carriers such as Emirates and Air France-KLM agree to move any flights.
- How fast Navi Mumbai adds road and transit links to the city.
Related reading on HorizonDesk
- Mumbai airport drops slot cuts, winter flights safe
- Winter schedule 2026: new international flights from India
- Air India to start Delhi–Osaka nonstop flights
Sources
- Adani Group: IndiGo and Adani Airports announce phased expansion of international flight operations at Navi Mumbai Airport (25 Oct 2026)
- The Hindu (PTI): IndiGo, Air India to shift flights to Navi Mumbai as Mumbai airport prepares Terminal 1 redevelopment (25 Oct 2026)
- Business Standard: IndiGo, Air India break ranks with foreign carriers on Navi Mumbai shift (25 Oct 2026)
- India Today: IndiGo to move 12 international flights to Navi Mumbai (25 Oct 2026)
