“Navi Mumbai International Airport commences flight operations, unveiling a new gateway to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).”

Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) recently commenced commercial flight operations, adding a major new aviation gateway to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and bringing to fruition over three decades of planning. The greenfield airport has been developed and is operated by Adani Airports.

Built to ease congestion at the existing Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, NMIA is being developed in phases. In its initial phase, the airport is designed to handle 20 million passengers per annum (MPPA), with future expansion planned to scale capacity up to 90 MPPA. The long-term plan includes dedicated cargo terminals and multimodal connectivity.

The launch marks Mumbai’s transition to a distributed, multi-airport system, similar to global city-regions such as London, New York, Tokyo and Shanghai. Airport officials said the new facility will improve capacity, operational resilience and long-term scalability for a region that has faced sustained congestion for more than a decade.

On the first day of operations, domestic services were operated by IndiGo, Air India Express, Akasa Air and Star Air, connecting NMIA to nine destinations across India. The airport handled 48 flights and served over 4,000 passengers, with peak traffic recorded between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m.

IndiGo became the first airline to land at NMIA, with an inaugural flight arriving from Bengaluru, followed by the first departure to Hyderabad. Vinay Malhotra, Head of Global Sales at IndiGo, said the airline will initially connect NMIA to more than 10 key domestic destinations, complementing operations at Mumbai’s existing airport.

Air India Express also began services with a flight to Bengaluru. Managing Director Aloke Singh said Navi Mumbai would be a key pillar of the airline’s dual-airport strategy for the region, adding that operations would 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 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.

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. “NMIA stands as a promise of what the country can achieve when ambition is guided by purpose and delivered with speed and execution.”

During the initial phase, NMIA will operate between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., with up to 24 scheduled daily departures and the capacity to manage 10 aircraft movements per hour. From February 2026, operations are expected to scale up to round-the-clock services.

Inspired by the lotus, India’s national flower, the terminal architecture blends cultural elements with contemporary design and sustainability features. NMIA is expected to strengthen Mumbai’s position as a global aviation hub and support long-term economic growth through expanded air connectivity.