MoCA asks MIAL to defer Mumbai flight shift plan, consult airlines

Civil Aviation Ministry asks MIAL to defer its plan to shift 265 weekly international flights to Navi Mumbai and work with airlines on a jointly agreed transition plan

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Tuesday asked the Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) to defer its current transition plan, under which it wanted to shift 265 out of 770 weekly international flights from Mumbai airport to Navi Mumbai airport by October 25. It also asked the Adani group-controlled airport operator to convene a meeting with all stakeholders to work out a jointly agreed transition plan, sources said. 

The dispute between the airlines and Adani group over the proposed shift began in August, when the MIAL started discussions on moving international services to Navi Mumbai as part of the redevelopment of Mumbai airport’s Terminal 1. The issue escalated in the recent weeks after MIAL asked airlines to submit transition plans by Tuesday (October 6) and warned that it would proceed with the proposed shift if airlines did not provide their inputs. 

Both -- MIAL as well as Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd (NMIAL) -- are controlled by the Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL). Sources said Tuesday’s meeting in Delhi between MoCA, MIAL, NMIAL and airlines decided that the current transition plans would be deferred. 

MIAL will now convene a meeting with all stakeholders to prepare a transition plan that has the agreement of airlines and other parties concerned. The new plan will also have to go through the required regulatory approvals, sources said. 

The record of the joint stakeholder meeting, showing airline buy-in to the transition plan, will form part of the Major Development Plan (MDP) approvals for the project. The MDP approvals for the project are to be given by MoCA, sources said. MDP refers to the broader development plan for an airport, including proposed infrastructure and operational changes. 

The process agreed on Tuesday will, therefore, require MIAL to first build stakeholder agreement on the transition before taking the plan through the regulatory approval process. 

The meeting in Delhi came after airlines raised questions over the basis for shifting a specific 33 per cent of international services from Mumbai airport to Navi Mumbai. MIAL had said 265 of the 770 weekly international departure slots at Terminal-2 would be temporarily discontinued, and these flights will be shifted to Navi Mumbai. 

All international flights at Mumbai airport currently operate from Terminal-2. According to MIAL, around 5 million domestic passengers a year need to be shifted from Terminal-1 to Terminal-2 at the old airport, and this is why around 33 per cent of international flights currently operating from Terminal-2 must move to Navi Mumbai. 

The Airline Operators Committee (AOC), in its communication to Adani group on Sunday, asked the airport operator to explain how it arrived at the 33 per cent figure. It wanted to know whether the calculation was based on terminal capacity, passenger traffic, flights or slots, and sought the methodology and capacity assessment behind the figure. 

The AOC also asked Adani group to identify the stakeholder meeting, in which the proposal was discussed and agreed, and whether the proposed reduction or relocation of established slots had been considered under IATA’s Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG) and Worldwide Slot Guidelines (WSG). 

On Saturday, AAHL -- in a press release -- said redevelopment of the terminal would begin in January because of safety concerns around the 60-year-old building.  AAHL CEO Arun Bansal said extensive consultations with airlines on the future of Terminal-1 had been ongoing since 2020 and that the redevelopment plan had also been presented before the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA). 

The airlines on Sunday questioned this claim that extensive consultations on Terminal-1 had been held since 2020. AOC asked Adani group to produce minutes of the meetings, consultation records and documented outcomes of all consultations held since 2020. It pointed out that 2020 was the Covid period and that Adani took over operations of Mumbai airport only in mid-2021. 

The airlines on Sunday also sought month-wise actual capacity utilisation data for Terminal-1 and Terminal-2 for every month of 2026, along with the available and declared passenger-handling capacity of both terminals. The AOC said this was needed to understand the rationale behind relocating flights when Terminal-1 is currently handling around 10 million passengers annually, against its stated capacity of 15 million. 

The committee separately sought a detailed Terminal-1 redevelopment plan covering its scope, phases, timelines and the operational and capacity impact during each phase. 

AAHL has also offered incentives to encourage international airlines to move to Navi Mumbai. These include a 100 per cent discount on landing fees for new international flights and cash vouchers to offset the difference in user development fees between the two airports. 

The AOC, however, on Sunday said such incentives were not its immediate concern. It said airlines wanted transparency on the Terminal-1 redevelopment plan, timelines, capacity assessment and operational transition. 

“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,” the AOC said.