Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) has commenced commercial flight operations, opening a new aviation entry point for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) after over three decades of planning.
The greenfield airport has been developed and is operated by Adani Airports, and is positioned as a capacity relief valve for the city’s congested existing hub, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.
Day one at Navi Mumbai International Airport: 48 flights, 4,000+ passengers, 9 domestic destinations
Airport authorities said the first day saw 48 flights and over 4,000 passengers, with peak traffic between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. Domestic services on day one were operated by IndiGo, Air India Express, Akasa Air and Star Air, connecting NMIA to nine destinations across India.
IndiGo became the first airline to land at NMIA, with an inaugural arrival from Bengaluru, followed by the first departure to Hyderabad. IndiGo’s Head of Global Sales Vinay Malhotra said the airline will initially connect NMIA to more than 10 key domestic destinations, complementing its operations at Mumbai’s existing airport.
Air India Express also began services with a flight to Bengaluru. Its Managing Director Aloke Singh said Navi Mumbai would be a key pillar of the airline’s dual-airport strategy for the region, with operations to be scaled up progressively.
Akasa Air said NMIA would be one of its core growth bases in the coming years. The airline’s inaugural flight arrived from Delhi early Thursday morning, and it said it plans to ramp up operations to 300 domestic and 50 international weekly departures. Akasa Air Founder and CEO Vinay Dube described NMIA as a “generational expansion of aviation capacity” for the MMR.
Phase-wise buildout: 20 million passengers initially, expansion planned to 90 million
NMIA is being developed in phases. As part of its first phase, the planned capacity of the airport is 20 million passengers per annum (MPPA), but the future expansion plan is to increase the capacity to 90 MPPA. Besides, the future expansion plan also includes the concept of cargo terminals and multimodal connectivity.
Previously operating on reduced hours, it will be a 24/7 station starting
During the first stage, the NMIA will function between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., with a maximum of 24 departures every day and the ability to handle 10 aircraft movements within an hour. However, come February 2026, operations are expected to be ramped up fully to round-the-clock operations.
Mumbai’s “multi-airport” shift: a new chapter in capacity and resilience
Airport officials described the launch as part of Mumbai’s transition to a distributed, multi-airport system, similar to global city-regions such as London, New York, Tokyo and Shanghai. They said the additional airport is expected to improve capacity, operational resilience, and long-term scalability for a region that has seen sustained congestion for more than a decade.
Terminal design: lotus-inspired architecture with sustainability features
Designed in a terminal inspired by the national flower of India, the Lotus, the new Mumbai airport, named NMIA, will contribute towards making Mumbai a major aviation destination in the world, government officials claimed. NMIA will improve Mumbai’s position as a gateway destination in the aviation industry, a government statement said.
Gautam Adani on launch day
Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani personally welcomed passengers from the inaugural flight and interacted with airport staff and frontline workers. “It’s a proud day for Mumbai and for India,” he said, adding that NMIA “stands as a promise of what the country can achieve when ambition is guided by purpose and delivered with speed and execution.”
The near-term operational ramp-up, especially the move to 24/7 operations from February 2026, will be the key indicator of how quickly NMIA can absorb traffic growth and support Mumbai’s shift toward a multi-airport model.
Also Read: Ola Electric Secures Rs 366.78 Crore Incentive Under PLI-Auto Scheme
