IndiGo will be the first carrier to begin flight operations from Adani Group‘s Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), a joint statement said on Wednesday.
The country’s largest airline will start with 18 daily departures to over 15 cities. This will be increased to 79 daily departures, including 14 international departures by November 2025, and further scaled up to over 100 daily departures by March 2026. By November 2026, the operations will be further ramped up to 140 daily departures, including 30 international departures.
Both IndiGo and Adani Airport Holdings (AAHL), however, did not provide the estimated date of the start of the operations at the airport.
IndiGo was the first carrier to conduct a flight validation test at NMIA in December 2024 with its Airbus A320.
Pieter Elbers, chief executive officer, IndiGo, said: “IndiGo will be the inaugural airline to operate from NMIA and we couldn’t be more pleased to announce this. Our alliance signals towards achievement of complete operational readiness on both sides to take next steps.”
Arun Bansal, CEO, AAHL, said: “We are delighted to announce IndiGo as the first airline partner to commence operations from NMIA. This partnership marks a major step towards confirming NMIAL’s position as a transfer hub for domestic and international travellers.”
A few weeks ago, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) issued a NOTAM (notice to airmen), stating that NMIAL will not be available until the first week of August. The greenfield airport was to be inaugurated in June after missing deadlines in December 2024 and March and April this year.
In its initial phase, NMIAL is designed to handle 20 million passengers and 0.5 MMT of cargo per annum, with the capacity to serve 90 million passengers and 3.2 MMT of cargo per annum, once all phases of construction are complete.
Prior to the test flight of IndiGo last year, NMIA had seen flight validation tests involving technical assessments, landings and takeoffs, testing of air traffic control systems and of handling procedures of small and large aircraft.
Spread across 1,160 hectares and equipped with two parallel runways, the launch of NMIA will create a dual-airport system for the financial capital of the country, enabling the de-congestion of Mumbai airport, the release stated.
It is important to streamline operation at NMIA since it has to bear the passenger load of CSMIA’s T1 terminal, which is slated to be dismantled and undergo a 3-4 year redevelopment phase. CSMIA, which is also run by AAHL, has a capacity to handle 55 million passengers per year.
In December 2023, IndiGo had signed a memorandum of understanding with Noida International Airport to become the launch carrier for the airport, which was supposed to be inaugurated in 2024. Akasa Air had also entered into a collaboration with Noida International Airport to start flights from there.