Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) is set to commence commercial operations on December 25, beginning with 23 scheduled departures every day. For the first month, the newly built facility will operate for 12 hours daily, from 8 am to 8 pm, managing up to 10 aircraft movements per hour as part of its controlled launch phase, the airport operator announced on Monday. The project has been executed by Navi Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (NMIAL), a special purpose entity jointly promoted by the Adani Group and the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd (CIDCO), making it one of the most significant aviation infrastructures in the region.
NMIA, the second major airport serving the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), was formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 8. In its early phase, the airport is expected to manage around 120 aircraft movements each day, establishing its position as a vital capacity booster for regional air travel. The airport plans to switch to 24x7 operations from February 2026, increasing the total number of daily departures to 34 as flight schedules expand. Designed to ease congestion at Mumbai’s existing airport, the new facility aims to streamline domestic connectivity and support rising passenger demand.
According to the launch schedule, the first flight to land at the new airport will be IndiGo’s 6E460 service from Bengaluru, expected to arrive at exactly 8:00 am. Following this, IndiGo flight 6E882 will become the first to take off from NMIA, departing for Hyderabad at 8:40 am. During the initial period, travellers will have access to flights operated by IndiGo, Air India Express, and Akasa Air, which together will connect Mumbai to 16 key domestic destinations. Built at a cost of ₹19,650 crore, phase one of the airport spans 1,160 hectares and features a single terminal and runway, with the capacity to cater to 20 million passengers annually.