With about a year to go for the commercial launch of the Navi Mumbai airport in March 2025, Adani Airport Holdings (AAHL) is finding it difficult to get major airlines to shift operations from Mumbai.
A year ago, the Adani Enterprises subsidiary, the country’s largest airport operator, wanted to shift at least one large carrier to the Navi Mumbai airport — even offering it prime slots.
In a presentation titled ‘Airports Day’ released in October 2022, AAHL had said, “Mumbai has two major airlines with domestic as well as international operations, IndiGo and Air India. One airline can be shifted to Navi Mumbai airport, which will release gridlock at Mumbai airport.”
However, both IndiGo and the Tata group-controlled Air India have not shown interest in making that shift.
At a recent event in Hyderabad, Pieter Elbers, CEO, IndiGo, told FE, “Even with the new airport, the existing airport (in Mumbai) will still serve its purpose. How precisely we orchestrate one another will have to be planned going forward.”
An email sent to Air India seeking comments remained unanswered at the time of going to print.
Responding to a query form FE, AAHL said that it is holding discussions with many airlines. “We will be able to give clarity on this when there is something concrete and agreements are signed.”
The prospect of operating at Navi Mumbai airport does not imply a certain airline stopping operations at Mumbai airport, AAHL added.
While Navi Mumbai international airport will be larger and more modern than the Mumbai airport, convincing airlines to connect it with the rest of the country is becoming a task for AAHL given the limited transportation options to and from the airport for Mumbai city.
The Rs 19,600-crore Navi Mumbai airport, which will see a capacity creation of 20 million passengers in Phase 1, is projected to handle its first flight by the end of FY25. Until then Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) with an annual capacity of 55 million passengers, will continue to face congestion.
To manage burgeoning passenger numbers, operators of crowded airports are keen on airlines moving operations to nearby airports.
Recently, a GMR executive director said his company has encouraged traffic of low-cost airlines and cargo to move to the upcoming Noida international airport at Jewar or to Hindon or other regional airports. Jewar airport has signed partnerships with IndiGo and Akasa Air.
By the time the Navi Mumbai airport gets ready to manage its first flight next year, it will be connected Mumbai only via road. While rail connectivity through Central Railway’s Harbour line is inadequate, construction of the 40-km metro line connecting Navi Mumbai airport to Mumbai airport is yet to begin.
While construction work on the Navi Mumbai airport is being carried out non-stop since August 2021, sources said multiple clearances from different government agencies are still awaited. The Adani group, however, is confident of getting the go-ahead from the authorities concerned in time. According to the reports published in www.financialexpress.com .
In mid-January, about 78% of the first of the two 3,700-metre runways was completed and the balance of 800 metres is to be completed before the end of this year’s monsoon, as per sources.
