New Delhi: Air India Group will commence the phased transition of some of its West Asia services to Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), with Air India Express operating four daily domestic flights from December 2026 and planned services to Kuwait and existing services to Oman from January 2027, according to a joint media release by Air India Group and Adani Airports reported by ANI on Sunday.

Source: ANI, via Latestly

The group will progressively transition Air India Express services to Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Doha, Muscat and Sharjah to NMIA, with the process expected to be completed by the IATA Northern Summer 2027 season, the release said.

Source: ANI, via Daily Prabhat

Dec 2026Air India Express starts four daily domestic flights from NMIA
Jan 2027Planned Kuwait services and existing Oman services move
Summer 2027West Asia transition to Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Doha, Muscat and Sharjah due to complete

The transition is part of the broader plan for domestic and international airlines to facilitate the redevelopment of Terminal 1 at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai. The release said the phased move supports the development of Mumbai's dual-airport system while enabling Air India Group to continue serving the market efficiently and preserve the historicity of its existing operating slots at CSMIA.

The Air India announcement follows a period of friction over the wider Mumbai transition: the airport operator had proposed a broader shift of international departure slots that faced pushback from international airlines, and renewed negotiations after civil aviation ministry intervention produced the current phased approach, Mirror Now reported. The Terminal 1 redevelopment is aimed at raising its annual passenger-handling capacity from 15 million to 20 million, the report said.

Source: Mirror Now

Adani Airport Holdings welcomed Air India Group's plans to commence operations from NMIA, saying the new airport is being developed with advanced technology, multimodal connectivity and scalable infrastructure. Awaaz Punjab reported separately on Sunday that IndiGo will shift 12 daily international departures to NMIA from February 2027; the Air India Group plan is a distinct announcement covering a different airline group and an earlier December 2026 start for domestic services.