India Halts Mumbai Airport Terminal 2 International Flight Cut Plan; Review Underway
Why It MattersThe dispute highlights how airport redevelopment and slot reallocation can collide with airline scheduling commitments, exposing friction between infrastructure planning and carrier operational readiness.
India's Civil Aviation Ministry has asked Mumbai International Airport's operator, MIAL, to defer a plan to remove 265 of Terminal 2's 770 weekly international departure slots, putting the proposal on hold as of October 6, 2026. The plan, due to take effect at 11:59 p.m. on October 25 at the start of the winter schedule running to March 27, 2027, was designed to free Terminal 2 capacity for domestic flights displaced by redevelopment of Terminal 1, where only the North Section of Terminal 1B — roughly one-third of Terminal 1's capacity — is set for demolition from January 2027. Adani Airports cited safety concerns about the 60-year-old structure and a fire at Terminal 1 in April 2026, with about 5 million domestic passengers a year expected to shift from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2 under the plan.
The proposed cuts would affect 46 carriers, with the largest reductions falling on IndiGo (74 of 224 weekly international departures), Air India (33 of 100), Akasa Air (11 of 32), Etihad Airways (10 of 28), Emirates (10 weekly departures), and British Airways (7 of 21); Air India Express would lose 7 slots and SpiceJet 5, according to the list MIAL circulated to airlines. These are described as proposed figures, not confirmed cuts.
Airlines have opposed the plan, arguing the winter schedule was approved in June with aircraft, crews and ticket sales already committed, and asked the ministry to intervene. IATA objected to what it called "forced relocation" and questioned the readiness of Navi Mumbai International Airport, an Adani-owned facility 45 kilometres away that opened in December 2025, citing maintenance approvals, catering, ground handling, crew transport and passenger access. Air France-KLM said splitting its Mumbai operations "is not an option."
A follow-up meeting is scheduled for October 13, with a final plan expected by October 20, and no new start date had been announced as of October 8. MIAL has proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport as an alternative for displaced international flights, offering a 100% landing fee waiver on new international routes and planned passenger vouchers to offset the user development fee difference; Adani says airlines may relocate "at their discretion," and no airline has agreed to move. A Metro link to Navi Mumbai Airport is not expected until 2031, and the new Terminal 1 is expected to be commissioned in 2029-30.
