How Navi Mumbai International Airport will boost Mumbai's air travel capacity, connectivity

As you fly into Mumbai, you are greeted by expansive slums at one end of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) runway, and the crowded city jostling for space at the other. Despite the airport’s central location, accessing it means getting stuck in lengthy traffic jams, as the surrounding roads are among the busiest in the city, regardless of the time of day.

That may soon change, as Mumbai is getting a new airport in Navi Mumbai. Once ready, it will be significantly larger than CSMIA and will offer multi-modal connectivity.

Most megacities have multiple airports. London, for instance, has Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick, Luton and City airports. New York has three major airports, and Tokyo has two.

CSMIA is the world’s busiest single-runway airport. It has two terminals and two runways, but as the runways intersect, only one can operate at a time.

When the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) is complete, it will feature four passenger terminals and two operational runways, along with dedicated general aviation and air cargo terminals. “The existing airport is operating at full capacity and cannot be expanded—you can’t extend the runway into the water, nor reclaim land. So, building another airport was the only solution,” said an airline industry expert.

The idea of a new airport was conceived in the late 1990s. The bidding took place in 2017, and the project was awarded to Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), owned by GVK. Gautam Adani’s Adani Airport Holdings took over MIAL in April 2021, thereby taking control of NMIA.

NMIA is located near Panvel in Raigad district, east of South Mumbai and around 35 kilometres from CSMIA. In its initial phase, NMIA will have one operational terminal and runway, with capacity to handle 20 million passengers and 0.30 million tonnes of cargo a year.

The second terminal, expected to be commissioned in 2028, will add capacity for 30 million passengers and 0.50 million tonnes of cargo. The third terminal, set to open in 2030, will accommodate an additional 20 million passengers and 1.10 million tonnes of cargo. When the final phase is complete in 2040, with the fourth passenger terminal, the airport will have a cumulative capacity of 90 million passengers and 2.6 million tonnes of cargo.

CSMIA currently handles up to 55 million passengers a year. “The existing Mumbai airport has faced capacity constraints, which benefited other airports. Airlines couldn’t obtain the slots they needed for additional flights from the city. The new airport will solve such constraints,” said Jitendra Bhargava, former executive director at Air India.

While the new airport prepares to open, Terminal 1 at CSMIA is also scheduled for a major redevelopment, which will raise its capacity to 20 million passengers per year, a 42 per cent increase. Terminal 1 is currently used for domestic flights, especially by low-cost carriers. The redevelopment, likely to start in November this year, will necessitate Terminal 2 and NMIA handling the additional load.

IndiGo, India’s largest carrier, recently said it would operate 18 daily departures from NMIA to 15 cities from day one. The airline intends to scale up to 79 daily departures, including 14 international flights, by November, and more than 100 daily departures by March 2026. By November 2026, there will be 140 daily departures, including 30 international services, by IndiGo. Akasa Air plans to operate 100 weekly domestic departures initially from NMIA, and later scale up to 300 domestic and 50 international departures a week.

Other low-cost carriers are also expected to shift some operations to the Navi Mumbai airport. “Both Air India and IndiGo carry a large number of premium passengers from the current airport. Air India has its own international connections, plus those with Star Alliance airlines. IndiGo similarly has relationships with several carriers. Therefore, some services will likely continue to operate from the current airport,” said an industry expert.

Developing the right infrastructure and links will be vital for NMIA. “If it takes one and a half to two hours to reach the current airport from South Mumbai, I’d expect a similar journey time to the new airport, but not longer. Improved connectivity is essential,” said Bhargava.

The government has planned multi-modal connections to NMIA. Existing roads, highways and the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link (Atal Setu) will connect different parts of Mumbai and Thane. An under-construction six-lane coastal road promises to make access between Atal Setu and the airport seamless.

A direct metro rail link between CSMIA and NMIA is also being planned. This 34km metro line will include an 8.2km underground section; but it may take years to materialise. Metro lines planned in Navi Mumbai will make the airport easier to reach. Water taxi services from a jetty near Radio Club, Gateway of India, are also proposed, ferrying people from Colaba to the new airport in 40 minutes.

NMIA was initially scheduled to open in December 2024. The first commercial flight validation was carried out last December when an IndiGo Airbus A320 landed successfully on the new runway. The opening date, however, has since been revised several times. It was expected to be operational by March 2025. The Aeronautical Information Publication, detailing all geographical and technical particulars, was published in March, scheduled to take effect on May 15. It is now expected to begin operations in September.

Delays are not uncommon when it comes to commissioning airports, owing to the focus on safety. “In aviation, there’s no such thing as being 95 per cent ready,” said Bhargava. “You have to be 100 per cent ready. Multiple agencies must be in place, from customs and security to taxi services and accommodation for employees.”