Adani Airports tells foreign airlines: shift to Navi Mumbai from April, or lose Mumbai slots

Adani Airport Holdings chief executive officer Arun Bansal said on Tuesday that international airlines unwilling to move part of their operations to the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) could stop flying to Mumbai, adding that carriers had been told to vacate their existing facilities from April.

His remarks, made on the sidelines of the Aviation India Summit 2026, bring into the open a disagreement between the airport operator and foreign carriers over the planned redistribution of flights between the two airports serving the Mumbai region.

Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), which is owned by the Adani group and operates the city's existing airport, is preparing to carry out redevelopment work at Terminal 1. As part of that plan, a portion of the flight operations currently handled at Terminal 2 is to be relocated to Navi Mumbai. The transfer of a part of the airport's international operations, originally proposed for the winter schedule, has been deferred to the summer schedule beginning April 2027.

International airlines have resisted the move. Their concerns include what they describe as a lack of adequate consultation before the decision, the effect on passengers, and the operational implications of splitting their Mumbai operations between two airports.

Defending the operator's position, Mr Bansal said airlines had been given notice to vacate the existing facilities and that where they chose to operate afterwards was their own decision. He drew an analogy to a tenancy arrangement.

"I gave an example... my landlord says vacate the house. He can tell me to vacate the house, after that what I do is my choice. Similarly, we are telling airlines, from April you have to vacate [the slots at Mumbai airport], after that where you go is your choice," he told reporters.

The slot allocation due to be published on November 5 is expected to show which airlines did not seek a transfer to Navi Mumbai and would therefore stand to lose their existing slots at Mumbai airport. The publication of the list is likely to sharpen the dispute, since slots at Mumbai are among the most sought-after in the country and are central to an airline's ability to plan schedules well in advance.

Airlines' concerns, however, extend beyond the physical relocation of flights. The availability of adequate passenger-processing infrastructure, international connectivity, ground transportation and operational support at the new airport is expected to weigh heavily on their decision. Carriers typically assess such facilities against the standards of an established international gateway before committing long-haul routes to a new terminal.

A redistribution of international operations between the two airports could also complicate passenger journeys. This applies in particular to travellers connecting between domestic and international flights, and to those relying on interline connections with airlines operating from a different airport. In such cases, a change of airport in the middle of a journey adds time, cost and uncertainty for passengers.

The coming months are expected to involve further discussions between the operator and carriers, with both the timeline for the Terminal 1 redevelopment and the readiness of the Navi Mumbai facility likely to shape the final arrangement. Navi Mumbai International Airport is being developed to serve the Mumbai region alongside the existing airport, and its role in handling international traffic will depend on how quickly its terminal capacity, connections and surface access are brought into service.

For now, the operator has set out its position in plain terms: the slots at Mumbai airport are to be vacated from April, and the choice of where to operate next rests with the airlines.