AI Express, IndiGo to move West Asia flights from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai

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The transition, which begins in December, will stretch into the next summer schedule

By Aneesh Phadnis

Updated - October 25, 2026 at 08:34 PM.

The development is a major boost for Adani Group, which faces resistance from global airlines over shifting one-third of its flights from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai. | Photo Credit: ANI

Air India Express and IndiGo are shifting domestic and international flights from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai Airport, with a major focus on West Asia, transferring around 3 million passengers annually.

The transition, which begins in December, will stretch into the next summer schedule. The development is a major boost for Adani Group, which faces resistance from global airlines over shifting one-third of its flights from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai. It will also create necessary headroom for phased redevelopment of Mumbai airport’s Terminal 1, an executive said.

New flight plans

In a joint statement on Sunday, Adani Group and IndiGo said 12 daily international departures will progressively shift from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai. This accounts for more than a third of IndiGo’s current international departures from Mumbai and includes destinations in West Asia such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Additionally, flights to Dhaka and Jakarta, which depend on connecting traffic from West Asia, will also shift.

“An additional daily service to Kathmandu will also be introduced, taking IndiGo’s international network at Navi Mumbai to 12 destinations between February and July 2027.”

IndiGo will transition required domestic connectivity from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai to support these international flights. The capacity transition will create room for IndiGo to add new services from Mumbai to Asia, Africa and Europe besides developing another hub at Navi Mumbai airport.

IndiGo holds slots for Central Asian destinations which it does not currently operate. Adding new foreign routes from Mumbai would not be a challenge.

Air India Express will shift four domestic flights to Navi Mumbai in December. An existing flight to Muscat and a new service to Kuwait are planned from January.

The Air India Group will progressively transition Air India Express services to Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Doha, Muscat, and Sharjah, to Navi Mumbai with the process expected to be completed by the next summer season.

The joint announcements suggest IndiGo and Air India’s flights to Dubai and Abu Dhabi will continue from Mumbai for now. IndiGo, which has a codeshare partnership with Qatar Airways, has also not announced a shift of its Doha services

Airport redevelopment

Mumbai Airport plans to begin redevelopment of Terminal 1 next January, which will require a partial closure of the facility. This would impact around 5 million passengers annually. According to the airport, the redevelopment necessitates the transfer of one-third of flights from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 and from Terminal 2 to Navi Mumbai.

Initially, the Adani Group proposed transferring flights in the winter schedule, which began today, but the plan was deferred due to airline objections.

The Airlines Operators Committee has asked the airport to provide details of the Terminal 1 redevelopment plan, arguing that the facility handles less traffic than its design capacity of 15 million annual passengers. The issue is expected to be discussed at the next meeting of airport and airlines on Wednesday.

Published on October 25, 2026

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