Both Mumbai and Navi Mumbai airports are operated by Adani group entities. (Express Archive Photo)Amid stiff resistance from foreign airlines to shift some international flights from the Mumbai airport to the Navi Mumbai airport, the former’s operator has informed the government that it plans to suspend all flights to 14 international destinations in the 2027 summer schedule, which means that these destinations would be served only from the new airport some 50 km away, according to sources.The 14 destinations identified by Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) are the ones that Indian airlines IndiGo, Air India group, and Akasa Air have decided to serve from Navi Mumbai instead of Mumbai. Both Mumbai and Navi Mumbai airports are operated by Adani group entities. The 14 destinations are Bahrain, Dammam, Dhaka, Doha, Fujairah, Jakarta, Jeddah, Kathmandu, Kuwait, Madinah, Muscat, Ras Al Khaimah, Riyadh, and Sharjah.In a recent letter to Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha, MIAL’s Chief Airport Officer Vishnu Mohan Jha informed that airlines were asked to voluntarily propose by November 3 their slots that can be transitioned out of the Mumbai airport, but if they don’t respond, the operator plans to cut all slots for these 14 destinations to ensure that all flight to and from these cities are operated from just one airport in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) instead of being split between two, it is learnt. Moving flights based on destinations instead of splitting operations on any other basis is expected to minimise passenger confusion and make operations and transition a lot smoother, as per sources.Also Read | Adani’s Mumbai airport proposal runs into a roadblock; airlines knock on Centre’s doorMIAL plans to close Mumbai airport’s ageing terminal 1 for redevelopment. Initially, it had proposed reducing weekly international flights from the Mumbai airport by a third from October 26 to accommodate the passenger traffic of 5 million per year that is likely to be impacted due to the redevelopment. The operator initially gave the airlines a choice to either shift a third of their international flights to the Navi Mumbai airport, or suspend those flights for four years that the redevelopment project is estimated to take.This led to a lot of pushback from airlines, and MoCA had to intervene and ask MIAL to work out a plan in coordination with the carriers and defer the redevelopment project for some time. Thereafter, MIAL decided to defer the slot reduction and terminal works till the next summer schedule, which is slated to start at the end of March 2027.Following MIAL’s discussions with airlines, the Indian carriers announced that they will shift flights to these 14 destinations to Navi Mumbai over the course of the next few months, which should take care of over 3 million of the 5 million passengers per year that are likely to be displaced. Foreign airlines, however, continue to oppose the airport operator on the issue. On its part, the Adani group continues to maintain that the foreign airlines have the option to either move some of their flights to Navi Mumbai, or temporarily suspend those services till the revamped terminal 1 is commissioned.Also Read | Show us the safety audit: Airlines push back on Adani plan to move 265 Mumbai flights to NMIAMeanwhile, Mumbai airport’s Airline Operators’ Committee (AOC) has also written to Sinha, seeking another intervention by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on the issue. The AOC has termed MIAL’s proposal to reduce passenger capacity a unilateral decision taken without adequate justification, according to sources. The AOC has urged MoCA to advise MIAL and the airport slot coordinator to approve and confirm the historical slots of all existing airlines for the 2027 summer schedule.Sukalp Sharma is a Deputy Associate Editor with The Indian Express and writes on a host of subjects ... Read More Tags:businessMumbai Airport