Mumbai Airport proposes flights to 14 international destinations of all airlines to operate from Navi Mumbai from next summer; sends plan to govt

NEW DELHI: International flights to and from 14 destinations of all - Indian and foreign - airlines could be shifted out of Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) by next summer and operate only from Navi Mumbai Int'l Airport (NMIA).The Adani Group, which operates both these Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) airports, plans to do this as Indian carriers -- Air India Group, IndiGo and Akasa -- have agreed to move some of their international flights to NMIA from CSMIA over the next few months while foreign carriers are yet to agree to do so.The 14 destinations are Bahrain, Dammam, Dhaka, Doha, Fujairah, Jakarta, Jeddah, Kathmandu, Kuwait City, Madinah, Muscat, Ras Al Khaimah, Riyadh and Sharjah.Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) needs to urgently start demolition of the decades old terminal 1 as parts of it have been deemed structurally unsafe in technical studies. For that it needs airlines to shift flights to NMIA so that demolition of T1 can begin and a new terminal be built in its place.There have been multiple meetings between airlines and MIAL - which plans to begin T1 demolition next April - on the issue. Mumbai airport needs to shift 50 lakh passengers annually to NMIA. Their agreement with Indian carriers takes care of 30 lakh and still leaves 20 lakh.To achieve this, MIAL is learnt to have written to Union aviation secretary Samir Sinha that unless (foreign) airlines get on board, it plans that all flights to and from the 14 destinations identified by Indian carriers for shifting will operate at NMIA for all airlines.MIAL had asked airlines to tell latest by Nov 3 which slots will they temporarily vacate at CSMIA for the next summer season that starts March end.It is learnt to have requested the aviation ministry that if airlines don't revert on the same, it plans to implement the 14-foreign-destinations-from-NMIA plan. Sources say these cities have been chosen to ensure all MMR connectivity to them is at NMIA to minimise confusion among passengers.The aviation ministry is going to consider this and take a decision after taking into account all factors.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.