India Pauses Mumbai Flight Shift as Airlines Seek Safety Reports and Capacity Data

265 weekly departures at the centre of the dispute

India's Ministry of Civil Aviation has put on hold a plan to remove 265 of Mumbai airport's 770 weekly international departure slots while airlines and Adani Airports negotiate how to accommodate passengers during the redevelopment of Terminal 1. The proposed reduction would affect 46 airlines and remove 34.4% of international departures from Terminal 2, where all Mumbai international departures currently operate.

The ministry has asked the airport operator and airlines to work toward a jointly agreed transition plan by October 20, with discussions scheduled for October 13. Its intervention pauses an October transition that airlines say would disrupt winter schedules, aircraft deployment and bookings already made by passengers.

Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) wants to free space at Terminal 2 for approximately five million domestic passengers annually displaced by rebuilding at Terminal 1. Affected international services would move to Navi Mumbai International Airport, about 50 km away, or temporarily stop operating from Mumbai. Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL) controls both airports.

The dispute is not over whether Terminal 1 should be rebuilt. Airlines support redevelopment, but want the safety assessments, capacity calculations and alternatives behind the proposed international cuts before agreeing to surrender established slots. AAHL says the change is temporary, necessary for construction and manageable because Navi Mumbai can accommodate up to five million international passengers annually.

What the ministry has paused

The government has proposed delaying the transition by a few weeks rather than abandoning redevelopment. The revised plan is expected to require agreement among stakeholders and the necessary regulatory approvals. Records demonstrating airline agreement would form part of the ministry's consideration of the airport's Major Development Plan, which covers infrastructure and operational changes.

Reports differ on the original implementation date. Several put the proposed shift on October 25, while details of MIAL's communication specify discontinuing slots and reallocating Terminal 2 facilities from October 26. They also differ on who chaired the ministry meeting: one account identifies Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha, while another names Vumlunmang Vualnam. These discrepancies are unresolved.

The central outcome is consistent: the existing transition has been deferred pending further discussions. Representatives of airlines, AAHL, the Airports Authority of India and airline industry bodies participated in the talks. IndiGo, Air India and Akasa Air were among the carriers represented.

Why domestic rebuilding affects international flights

MIAL plans to begin rebuilding the northern section of Terminal 1B in January 2027. AAHL cites the age and structural condition of the terminal, which is nearly 60 years old, as reasons the work cannot be delayed. The proposed redevelopment would increase Terminal 1's annual passenger capacity from 15 million to 20 million, a gain of five million, or approximately 33%.

During construction, MIAL expects about five million domestic passengers a year to need accommodation at Terminal 2. Its plan would release international facilities there, including check in counters, baggage belts, boarding gates and operational office space, for domestic services.

That distinction matters: the immediate pressure comes from passenger processing capacity during rebuilding, even though the proposed response is a reduction in international departure slots. A slot is an allocated time for an aircraft arrival or departure. Passenger capacity and departure slots measure different things, so one cannot establish the required reduction simply from the other.

Airlines have asked whether the proposed cut was calculated from passenger numbers, terminal capacity, flight movements or slots. They also want to know why domestic operations displaced from Terminal 1 cannot be accommodated through other arrangements rather than removing international services from Terminal 2.

Airlines want the safety evidence and alternatives

The Airline Operators Committee in Mumbai, which represents airlines operating at the airport, requested six agenda items ahead of the October 13 meeting. Its demands focus on the evidence for rebuilding, the capacity available during construction and the process for selecting flights to be removed.

The committee explained its request for independent technical evidence in an email to the airport operator:

There have been references to the structural safety of T1 by MIAL at various forums. The AOC would like to review any independent consultant reports that have established such concerns,

The requested agenda covers:

• Independent consultant reports on Terminal 1's structural safety.
• A detailed redevelopment plan, including phases, technical assessments, timelines and capacity effects.
• The status, scope and timing of a proposed Terminal 2 expansion.
• Monthly capacity use during 2026 at both terminals, compared with available or declared capacity.
• Alternatives considered, including a temporary passenger processing facility.
• Compliance with the ministry's slot allocation guidelines if capacity is reduced.

Requesting the reports does not establish that the terminal is safe or unsafe. It identifies the technical evidence airlines want to examine before accepting the operational consequences of the rebuilding plan.

The capacity figures need different readings

AAHL says roughly five million passengers, or 9% of Mumbai airport's annual traffic, would be temporarily moved, leaving about 91% unaffected. Mumbai handled approximately 38 million domestic passengers and more than 16 million international passengers in financial year 2026. Together, those figures exceed 54 million, making five million roughly 9% of the total.

That comparison does not contradict a proposed cut of 34.4% in international departure slots. The percentages use different denominators: one concerns all passengers at the airport, while the other concerns only international departures. Neither percentage alone establishes how many passengers would travel on the affected flights, because aircraft size and occupancy vary.

Airlines point to another figure: Terminal 1 reportedly handles about 10 million passengers annually against a stated capacity of 15 million. That is approximately two thirds of its declared annual capacity. Annual totals, however, do not show whether particular hours or facilities are congested, or how much space would disappear during each construction phase. The requested monthly data and detailed redevelopment plan are intended to clarify those constraints.

The proposed Terminal 2 expansion is also central to the negotiations. It was expected to add capacity for approximately five million passengers annually, the same scale as the domestic traffic MIAL says must be accommodated elsewhere. Airlines want its status and completion schedule, although matching annual figures alone does not prove that expansion could replace the proposed relocation.

Which carriers face the biggest changes?

IndiGo would lose 74 of its 224 weekly international departures from Mumbai, approximately 33%. Air India would lose 33 of 100, while Akasa Air would lose 11 of 32, approximately 34.4%. Together, those three carriers account for 118 of the 265 proposed cuts, or about 44.5%.

Emirates and Etihad Airways would each move 10 of their 28 weekly departures, approximately 35.7%. British Airways and Air India Express would each move seven of 21. Several airlines with smaller schedules would face proportionally larger reductions: removing three of seven departures amounts to approximately 42.9%, while removing two of four amounts to half.

These differences help explain why airlines are seeking the selection methodology rather than treating the proposal as a uniform 33% reduction. For a carrier with only a handful of weekly flights, operating across two airports can mean maintaining separate teams and service arrangements for a small number of departures.

MIAL had asked airlines to identify the slots they would discontinue by 4 pm on October 6. It said it would select slots itself if carriers did not respond, using operational capacity and implementation considerations. The ministry's intervention has paused that proposed process while a revised agreement is pursued.

Why moving a flight requires more than a new terminal

Airlines say relocation requires arrangements for ground handling, aircraft maintenance, catering, cargo, crew transport and accommodation. Foreign carriers may also need approvals from their global management teams. Passenger connections are another concern, especially if an international service moves away from the airport used by its connecting domestic flights.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), representing more than 370 airlines across 120 countries, described the proposal in its September 9 letter to the ministry as a "forced relocation". It raised operational, commercial and regulatory concerns and maintains that any shift should be voluntary.

Stefan Gumuseli, general manager of Air France and KLM, said splitting operations would reduce efficiency, divide teams and ground handling arrangements, and complicate management of the airlines' long distance network. Carriers also say their winter schedules and aircraft plans are largely finalised, making an October change particularly difficult.

The Airline Operators Committee stated its position on consent in a communication to the operator:

Airlines cannot concur with any unilateral reduction, relocation or consequential changes to their existing operations or slots without the requisite data, detailed plan and proper consultation,

AAHL says historical Mumbai slots will be restored, with additional slots, after redevelopment. A completion date and detailed restoration arrangements have not been established in the reported discussions, leaving airlines seeking more certainty about how temporary the change would be.

Navi Mumbai offers capacity, incentives and a new bus link

AAHL says Navi Mumbai is prepared to handle up to five million international passengers annually, with road access, catering, lounges, hotels and other passenger services in place. That is its answer to airline concerns about whether the airport can support the proposed scale of international operations.

The operator has offered a 100% waiver of landing charges for new international flights at Navi Mumbai. It has also proposed cash vouchers to offset the difference in the User Development Fee, a passenger charge used to support airport development. Reported international departure fees are 1,225 rupees at Navi Mumbai and 615 rupees at Mumbai, a difference of 610 rupees. The final Navi Mumbai fee structure remains under ministry consideration.

There are commercial concerns beyond fees. Navi Mumbai's scheduled departures fell from 2,204 in May to 1,497 in September, a decline of 707, or approximately 32%. IndiGo departures reportedly fell 30% over that period and Akasa Air departures 75%. Those figures show a contraction in scheduled activity, but do not by themselves establish its cause or the airport's ability to handle international services.

Ground access gained a new connection on October 7, 2026, when Maharashtra's state transport corporation launched a Dadar to Navi Mumbai airport bus service. Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik said more services could be added according to demand. Describing the service's purpose, he said:

The bus service will link the Navi Mumbai International Airport with the ST's wide public transport network, benefiting air travellers as well as ordinary citizens,

The proposed shift has also drawn political criticism. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray accused the airport operator of "fleecing" Mumbai residents. That is a political allegation, distinct from the airlines' requests for technical and commercial evidence.

The deadlines that brought government intervention

The disagreement developed through a series of consultation requests and deadlines before the ministry paused the transition:

• August 2026: MIAL began discussions about shifting international services during Terminal 1 redevelopment.
• September 9: IATA asked the ministry to intervene over the proposed relocation.
• September 16: MIAL held a transition meeting that it says several airlines did not attend.
• September 25: MIAL's deadline for airline transition plans passed; it says several carriers did not respond.
• October 6: Airlines faced a 4 pm deadline to identify affected slots. The ministry intervened to defer the existing plan.
• October 7: The Dadar to Navi Mumbai airport bus service began.
• October 13: Airlines and the airport operator are scheduled to discuss the revised transition and requested evidence.
• October 20: Stakeholders are expected to finalise a plan for ministry review.
• January 2027: Terminal 1B rebuilding is scheduled to begin.

The history of consultation is itself disputed. AAHL chief executive Arun Bansal says discussions on Terminal 1's future have continued since 2020 and that the redevelopment plan was presented to the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India. Airlines have requested minutes and documented outcomes, pointing out that Adani assumed Mumbai airport operations only in mid 2021. Other airline representatives described transition discussions as having lasted nearly 18 months.

What still needs to be agreed

The October meetings must resolve more than a new start date. Airlines want the technical basis for reducing international departures, the construction plan, the available Terminal 2 capacity and the rules for selecting and restoring slots. The operator must also address whether alternative passenger facilities or the proposed Terminal 2 expansion can accommodate some displaced domestic traffic.

Mumbai's runway constraints add a separate consideration. The airport operates with a single runway handling about 46 aircraft movements an hour, with efforts to increase that to 52 to 55. Increasing terminal passenger capacity does not automatically create runway capacity, just as moving check in counters does not settle airline staffing or passenger connection arrangements.

For now, no revised relocation date has been confirmed. The October 20 review is the next decision point, not a confirmed deadline for passengers to change airports. The unresolved issues include the final flight list, regulatory approvals, passenger fee arrangements and the practical conditions for returning services to Mumbai after rebuilding.

Key Points

• The ministry has paused a proposed reduction of 265 out of 770 weekly international departures at Mumbai's Terminal 2, affecting 46 airlines.
• MIAL wants Terminal 2 space for approximately five million domestic passengers displaced annually by Terminal 1 redevelopment.
• Airlines support rebuilding but seek safety reports, capacity data, alternatives and an agreed slot allocation process.
• Discussions are scheduled for October 13, followed by a ministry review around October 20.
• AAHL offers landing charge waivers and passenger vouchers for Navi Mumbai, but final fee arrangements remain unsettled.
• Terminal 1 rebuilding is scheduled to begin in January 2027 and increase annual capacity from 15 million to 20 million passengers.
• No revised flight relocation date has been confirmed.