New Navi Mumbai Airport Begins Operations This Christmas

Akasa Air on Saturday became the first airline to open bookings for commercial flights from the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), with inaugural services beginning on 25 December 2025. The carrier will operate its maiden Delhi–Navi Mumbai flight on Christmas Day, followed by the rollout of flights to Goa (Mopa), Kochi, and Ahmedabad over the subsequent week.

IndiGo, India’s largest airline, has also confirmed the launch of operations from the new greenfield airport on the same day. Bookings for its initial routes are now live, marking the beginning of multi-carrier operations at NMIA’s Phase I terminal, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 October 2025.

Akasa said its operations from NMIA will scale up gradually, with a long-term target of 300 domestic and 50 international weekly departures as part of its network expansion strategy. The airline plans to grow to 10 parking bases by FY2027, backed by a stronger international footprint across the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

IndiGo, which will begin with more than 30 daily flights, is expected to expand rapidly in 2026, with plans for over 100 daily departures by March 2026 and a mix of domestic and international routes by the end of next year.

The launch of flight operations is expected to ease significant pressure on Mumbai’s congested Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA). NMIA, developed under a public-private partnership between Adani Airport Holdings Ltd. and CIDCO at an estimated cost of ₹19,650 crore, is designed to initially handle 20 million passengers annually in Phase I, with long-term capacity planned to reach 90 million.

The airport incorporates a range of digital and passenger-friendly features, including online baggage tracking, pre-booked parking, real-time transit integration via the “Mumbai One” mobility app, and infrastructure to support sustainable aviation fuel. NMIA’s first runway spans 3,700 metres, capable of handling large wide-body aircraft, while future development phases will add terminals and a second runway.

Aviation analysts expect competitive fares in the early months as airlines introduce additional capacity on high-demand routes such as Delhi, Kochi, Ahmedabad and Goa. Both carriers believe the new airport will unlock fresh demand across Navi Mumbai, Panvel, Kharghar, Thane and surrounding regions.

“NMIA strengthens our strategic presence in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, allowing us to capture new demand pools and optimize capacity deployment,” said Praveen Iyer, Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Akasa Air.