Akasa Air to shift Mumbai-Jeddah flights to Navi Mumbai Airport

The development of two airports is intended to expand Mumbai's overall aviation capacity, improve domestic-international connections and create room for more international routes and carriers.

Mumbai: Akasa Air and Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL) on Monday announced a phased transition of the domestic carrier’s Mumbai-Jeddah operations from Mumbai International Airport to Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) from December, supporting the development of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region’s dual-airport system, the private airport operator said on Tuesday.

Two other carriers, IndiGo and Air India Group, have already announced that they will progressively shift flights from Mumbai’s existing airport to the greenfield facility in Navi Mumbai from December, clearing capacity for the redevelopment of Terminal 1 and paving the way for a dual-airport system in the country’s financial capital.

Effective December 2026, Akasa Air will operate flights between Mumbai and Jeddah from Navi Mumbai International Airport, the airline said in a statement.

Bookings for these flights opened on October 26, 2026, on the airline’s website, its mobile app and through multiple leading OTAs, it said.

The move builds on Akasa Air’s existing presence at Navi Mumbai International Airport and will further strengthen international connectivity from the new airport. It also supports the progressive development of NMIA as an important aviation gateway for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, offering travellers greater choice and convenient access to air travel, the statement added.

Akasa Air currently connects with 31 domestic and seven international cities.

The shift follows nearly 18 months of consultations between airlines and Adani Airport Holdings Ltd, which operates both Mumbai airports.

The planned transfer of around 3 million passengers, accounting for approximately 60 per cent of the traffic targeted for relocation in the first phase, will create the necessary headroom for the phased redevelopment of CSMIA’s Terminal 1. The initial phase aims to shift approximately 5 million passengers to Navi Mumbai, enabling critical safety enhancements, modernisation, upgraded passenger facilities and expanded handling capacity at CSMIA.

CSMIA handles around 55 million passengers annually, and the operator says about 91 per cent of its traffic will continue to operate from the existing airport during the redevelopment programme. The temporary relocation is intended to create the headroom needed to modernise Terminal 1 without disrupting the bulk of Mumbai’s air traffic.

The redevelopment is expected to raise Terminal 1’s annual passenger-handling capacity by about 33 per cent, from 15 million to 20 million. Planned upgrades include safety enhancements, modernised passenger facilities and improved digital and processing systems.

The airport operator has said airlines’ historical CSMIA slots will be restored after the redevelopment is completed. The transition is also intended to distribute capacity more proportionately between the two airports, taking account of each airline’s existing presence at CSMIA, and to provide carriers with greater certainty in planning future operations.

Navi Mumbai International Airport is designed to handle 20 million passengers annually in its initial phase, with future expansion planned to take capacity to 90 million. Its infrastructure includes automated baggage handling, digital passenger-processing systems and road links serving business districts, logistics hubs and other centres across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Further multimodal transport connections are planned.

The development of two airports is intended to expand Mumbai’s overall aviation capacity, improve domestic-international connections and create room for more international routes and carriers. A larger network could also help the city attract more transfer traffic, strengthening its role as an international gateway.

For airlines, the transition offers an opportunity to expand services without placing additional pressure on an already capacity-constrained CSMIA. For passengers, it promises a broader choice of flights over time, but the phased relocation will make it important to check departure airports carefully when booking and before travelling.

The planned moves by IndiGo and Air India Group mark a significant step in that transition, creating the operational space needed to modernise CSMIA while building Navi Mumbai into a larger domestic and international aviation hub.