Quick summary
IndiGo will move 12 daily international departures off Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM) to Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMI) between February and July 2027, covering 11 Gulf, Saudi, Dhaka and Jakarta routes plus a new daily Kathmandu service. Air India Express starts with four daily domestic departures from NMI in December 2026.
Neither carrier is leaving BOM — this is a phased transfer of selected services, not a relocation. Final dates depend on approvals, so the airport code on your booking is the only detail that matters.
Mumbai’s second airport starts taking international traffic
Mumbai’s second airport just got its first real slice of scheduled international flying — and it comes with a catch for anyone connecting through India’s financial capital.
On October 25, 2026, Adani Airport Holdings Limited, IndiGo and Air India Express put dates, flight counts and destination lists on the record for a phased redistribution of services between BOM and NMI. The first movement is Air India Express‘s four daily domestic departures from NMI in December 2026. IndiGo‘s international block follows from February 2027.
Two airports, one city, and a ground transfer in between is not a connection — it is a gamble. That is the practical consequence here: a domestic-to-international itinerary that used to happen under one roof may soon require moving between two separate facilities in the same metropolitan region.
The window runs from December 2026 through IATA‘s Northern Summer 2027 season, and it touches Gulf, Saudi, South Asian and Southeast Asian routes that feed Europe–Asia and North America–Asia itineraries.
What IndiGo and Air India Express are actually moving
IndiGo‘s transfer covers 11 existing international destinations: Bahrain, Kuwait, Muscat, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah in the Gulf; Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah and Madinah in Saudi Arabia; plus Dhaka and Jakarta. A new daily Kathmandu service lifts its NMI international network to 12 destinations. The domestic flights that feed those international departures move too, so connections can be made at NMI rather than across town.
Twelve daily departures is 84 international flights a week leaving BOM — enough to shift the slot maths at a congested airport, and precisely the point. IndiGo is counting on the capacity released at BOM to fund its 2027 international expansion across Asia, Africa and Europe, using its Airbus A320 and A321 fleet including the A321XLR.
Air India Express moves in two stages. Domestic first, from December 2026. Then West Asia: a Kuwait launch planned for January 2027 subject to regulatory approval, existing Oman services, and six West Asian destinations moved progressively — Sharjah, Muscat, Doha, and the Saudi trio of Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam. The target for completing that transition is IATA‘s Northern Summer 2027 season.
The driver is construction. BOM’s Terminal 1 redevelopment requires temporary capacity reductions, and shifting selected flights to NMI frees room for the work without breaking connectivity across the region. Air India Group said operating from both airports lets it keep serving Mumbai while preserving its existing slots at BOM.
| Date | Event | Traveler impact |
|---|---|---|
| December 2026 | Air India Express begins four daily domestic departures from NMI | Domestic Mumbai sectors may show NMI instead of BOM |
| January 2027 | Air India Express plans Kuwait launch and moves Oman services to NMI, subject to approval | Gulf bookings need an airport-code check; Kuwait date is not final |
| February 2027 | IndiGo’s NMI international operations due to start | First IndiGo international sectors shift off BOM |
| February–July 2027 | IndiGo’s 12 daily international departures progressively transferred | Rolling changes; recheck the itinerary before every departure |
| Northern Summer 2027 | Target completion for Air India Express’s West Asian transition | Six West Asian routes settled at NMI by season start |
Both carriers have been explicit that this is a transfer of selected operations, not a retreat. IndiGo‘s focus is international departures and their supporting domestic connections; Air India Express starts domestic before touching West Asia. Any further changes affecting IndiGo‘s Terminal 1 operations are expected to be absorbed at Terminal 2.
For travelers arriving from Europe or North America, the onward legs are where this bites. Flights from Europe to India that connect through Mumbai onto Gulf or Southeast Asian services are exactly the itineraries where an airport change turns a two-hour layover into a day-long problem.
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Why the rollout window is seven months long
A seven-month rollout is unusually generous for a schedule change, and that tells you something. When carriers publish a transfer window this wide, the binding constraint is usually airport readiness — terminal processing, immigration staffing, ground handling — not the airline’s own ambition. Navi Mumbai International Airport‘s passenger arrival guidance already lists separate domestic and international processes, and its live flight-status page shows scheduled IndiGo operations running. The airport works. What is still being built out is scale.
No carrier-owned schedule page reviewed confirms final weekly frequencies or aircraft types for the transferred routes. IndiGo has expressed its plan in daily departures, not a timetable, and Air India Express‘s Kuwait service remains approval-dependent. That gap matters: until inventory appears in each airline’s own booking system, a route has not moved in any way a passenger can rely on.
Air Traveler Club’s fare-drop tracking is worth watching on these corridors once schedules firm up — capacity shifts of this size often produce short-lived pricing anomalies on the affected India–Gulf and India–Southeast Asia routes.
Check the airport code, not the city
Mumbai itineraries booked for December 2026 through mid-2027 carry a real risk of an airport change between booking and departure — these steps protect you.
- Confirm the code at booking. Use IndiGo‘s or Air India Express‘s own booking pages and check whether the Mumbai sector shows BOM or NMI. “Mumbai” alone is no longer a sufficient answer.
- Recheck after any schedule notification. A transfer can land after you have paid. Reopen the itinerary whenever the airline emails a change.
- Treat an inter-airport connection as unprotected. If one sector is BOM and the next is NMI, ask the operating carrier whether the connection is protected before you buy. Most self-connections across two airports are not.
- Build a substantial buffer. Ground transfer between the two airports, plus check-in and security, is not a 90-minute exercise.
- Watch the Gulf and Saudi legs specifically. Bahrain, Kuwait, Muscat, Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah, Madinah, Sharjah, Doha, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah are the routes in motion.
Watch: India’s DGCA approval for Air India Express‘s Kuwait service from NMI — without it, the January 2027 date does not hold.
Reporting by
Questions? Answers.
Will my Mumbai flight definitely move to Navi Mumbai?
No. Only selected services are transferring. IndiGo is moving 12 daily international departures and their feeder domestic flights; Air India Express is moving four daily domestic departures first, then selected West Asian routes. The majority of Mumbai flying stays at BOM.
Is Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport closing?
No. BOM is undergoing Terminal 1 redevelopment, which requires temporary capacity reductions. Moving selected flights to NMI frees room for that construction. Both airports are expected to operate as one connected market for the metropolitan region.
How do I know which airport my connection uses?
Check the three-letter airport code on every sector of your itinerary, not the city name. BOM is Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport; NMI is Navi Mumbai International Airport. Confirm the code again after any airline schedule notification, since transfers are being phased through mid-2027.
