Did you approve MIAL's plan to shift Gulf carriers? Airlines ask MoCA

Airlines have sought MoCA's clarification on MIAL's proposal to shift select international flights to Navi Mumbai, raising concerns over historical slots and capacity cuts.

Airlines operating at the Mumbai airport on Friday asked the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) whether it had approved Adani group-controlled Mumbai International Airport Ltd's (MIAL's) plan to direct select Gulf carriers to shift their flights to Navi Mumbai from next summer.

 

On Thursday, MIAL wrote to certain Gulf airlines, informing them that their existing flights would not be accommodated at Mumbai airport from the summer season next year, as the airport operator has to start demolition and reconstruction of Terminal 1 due to safety reasons.

 

MIAL had identified that all flights from Mumbai to 14 international destinations --Bahrain, Dammam, Dhaka, Doha, Fujairah, Jakarta, Jeddah, Kathmandu, Kuwait City, Madinah, Muscat, Ras Al Khaimah, Riyadh and Sharjah -- shall be shifted to Navi Mumbai by end of March 2027.

  

According to Cirium's November 2026 schedule, 16 airlines operate 205 weekly departures from Mumbai to these 14 destinations. IndiGo, Air India group and Akasa Air have announced plans to shift some of their services to Navi Mumbai. The remaining 12 airlines operate 102 weekly departures and have not publicly announced plans to shift their services.

 

These 12 airlines are Air Arabia, Gulf Air, Kuwait Airways, Oman Air, Saudia, Qatar Airways, Riyadh Air, Jazeera Airways, SalamAir, Flyadeal, Flynas and Nepal Airlines. The letter from the Airline Operators Committee (AOC) of Mumbai does not identify which individual airlines received MIAL's latest communication. It says only that the email was sent to a few Gulf carriers.

 

In a letter to the MoCA on Friday, the AOC said MIAL's slot coordination team had informed the affected Gulf carriers that their requested slots (specific flight timings allowed for arrival and departure) at Mumbai would not be accommodated from next summer.

 

The operator told the airlines that they would have to temporarily move their operations out of Mumbai until its expansion was completed.

 

The AOC, in its communication to MoCA, then referred to MIAL's letter to the ministry on October 30, wherein the operator had sought the ministry's approval for shifting these flights from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai.

 

"We understand that MIAL's Chief Airport Officer (CAO), vide letter dated October 30, 2026, had sought MoCA's approval for temporarily transition out of the Mumbai airport, the historical slots of certain international airlines. However, the Slot Coordination Team (of MIAL) has since declined the historical slots of a few international Gulf carriers, apparently without further consultation or discussion with the affected airlines," it stated.

 

The AOC has asked the ministry to clarify whether it approved MIAL's October 30 proposal. It has also requested MoCA to advise MIAL to reconsider its decision and restore the affected airlines' historical slots for the summer schedule.

 

Historical slots are flight timings that airlines have operated regularly at an airport and are allowed to retain under applicable rules. The AOC said any decision affecting these slots must follow MoCA's slot guidelines and the International Air Transport Association's Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG), which set out rules for allocating and retaining airport flight timings.

 

"Airport redevelopment plans should not, in themselves, result in the withdrawal, denial or reallocation of historical slots. Any capacity-related adjustments must be undertaken strictly within the prescribed regulatory framework, ensuring transparency, fairness and non-discriminatory treatment of all airlines," the AOC stated.

 

The committee also questioned the basis for MIAL's proposal, in which the operator has stated that it must reduce the capacity of the Mumbai airport by five million passengers per annum (MPPA) so as to redevelop Terminal 1. Currently, the airport handles about 55 MMPA.

 

The AOC said the actual operational capacity of Terminal 1 was understood to be around 10 MPPA or less, based on information available to its member airlines. MIAL, it added, had not adequately explained the capacity assessment behind the proposed reduction.

 

The AOC said it supported the redevelopment of Terminal 1 and the airport's infrastructure development. However, it warned that shifting international airlines out of Mumbai could affect their network planning, passenger connections, interline and codeshare arrangements, and operational efficiency. These arrangements allow airlines to connect or sell flights operated by other carriers.

 

The dispute comes as MIAL plans to temporarily reduce Mumbai airport's capacity by five MPPA to facilitate the redevelopment of Terminal 1. In its October 30 letter to MoCA, MIAL had said it could shift all flights between Mumbai and the 14 international destinations to Navi Mumbai if airlines did not submit proposals for voluntary transfers.