Major Gulf airlines are opposing a proposal by Adani Airport Holdings to trim operational capacity at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) and shift multiple foreign international services to the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport.
As reported by Livemint, Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL)—a joint venture between Adani Airport Holdings and the Airports Authority of India—plans to reduce the main airport's official capacity by five million passengers per year starting in April 2027 for the summer schedule. To ease congestion during Terminal 1 redevelopment, MIAL recommended moving 12 international carriers to Navi Mumbai International Airport, located 50 kilometers away.
The proposed move affects 11 airlines from the Gulf and West Asia alongside Nepal Airlines. Together, these carriers—which include Saudia, Qatar Airways, Gulf Air, Kuwait Airways, Oman Air, Air Arabia, Flynas, Flyadeal, Riyadh Air, Jazeera Airways, SalamAir, and Nepal Airlines—operate 16 daily flights (112 weekly flights), representing 15% of CSMIA's total international operations.
Gulf Air, which operates two daily flights from Mumbai, warned that the proposal unilaterally revokes historic slot entitlements and would force its entire operation out of Terminal 2. The carrier indicated it may escalate the matter to India's Ministry of Civil Aviation, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Bahrain Civil Aviation Affairs, and IATA, raising the possibility of reciprocal counter-measures against Indian carriers under bilateral air service agreements.
Saudia also raised strong objections, stating that sudden slot cutbacks threaten annual Hajj and year-round Umrah pilgrimage traffic. Mumbai serves as a key departure point for Indian pilgrims, handling over 26,000 of the nation's 175,000 Hajj travelers in 2026. The 2027 Hajj charter flights are scheduled from April 8 to May 9.
While Indian carriers IndiGo, Air India Express, and Akasa Air are moving part of their international operations to Navi Mumbai, foreign airlines maintain that forced shifts disregard bilateral treaties and disrupt passenger connections.
