The carriers have warned that they may approach aviation regulators and government authorities in their respective countries, raising the possibility of reciprocal action.
The dispute follows MIAL’s October 30 proposal to the Civil Aviation Ministry seeking approval for a destination-based relocation plan. Under the proposal, all airlines operating on 14 international routes, including routes on which Indian carriers have announced plans to shift some flights, would operate from a single airport, NMIA.
The affected routes include Jeddah, Dhaka, Kathmandu, Bahrain, Kuwait, Madinah, Riyadh, Muscat and Sharjah, among others. The proposal would require airlines operating these routes to shift their services to the new airport.
MIAL’s proposal stems from its requirement to reduce CSMIA’s annual passenger-handling capacity by five million to accommodate displaced passenger traffic during the redevelopment of Terminal 1B. The redevelopment, originally scheduled to begin in January 2027, was pushed to the end of March following discussions between MIAL and the Airline Operators Committee Mumbai. Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL), which holds a controlling majority stake in MIAL, had previously maintained that the 60-year-old terminal required redevelopment over structural safety concerns.
The standoff between the airlines and the airport operator has also drawn political intervention. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has opposed the proposed relocation of international flights.
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In a letter to Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu, Fadnavis proposed an alternative. “I have written to the Ministry to develop Terminal 1B, shift operations from 1A to 1B and then demolish the existing 1A,” he said.
