10 smaller Gulf carriers denied airport slots at Mumbai

Passengers wait to board their flight at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai. File

Atleast 10 smaller Gulf carriers have had their requests for slots at Mumbai airport rejected, with the Adani-operated airport requiring airlines to shift to Navi Mumbai on the pretext of renovation work, according to airline sources.

The airlines include Oman Air, Bahrain’s Gulf Air, Sharjah-based Air Arabia, Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways from Kuwait, Doha-based Qatar Airways, and four carriers from Saudi Arabia — Flyadeal, Flynas, Riyadh Air and Saudia — it is reliably learnt.

This comes as Mumbai airport plans to suspend flights to 14 international destinations, which will be served from Navi Mumbai. The destinations are Bahrain, Dammam, Dhaka, Doha, Fujairah, Jakarta, Jeddah, Kathmandu, Kuwait City, Madinah, Muscat, Ras Al Khaimah, Riyadh and Sharjah.

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A representative of an airline denied slots for some flights at Mumbai said the carrier had protested and asked the airport to reconsider, questioning how a low-cost carrier could split its operations between the two airports. The representative raised concerns about staffing, ground handling and cargo, as well as the airline’s catchment market, and called for a gradual, phased shift. The representative said the airport had taken a hardline approach and could have been more “congenial rather than thrust the decision upon us”.

The dispute stems from Mumbai International Airport Ltd’s plan to redevelop Terminal 1 and shift some of its domestic operations to Terminal 2. To make room, the airport operator proposed reducing international operations at Terminal 2, with some flights expected to move to Navi Mumbai International Airport. About 60% of the flight capacity the airport sought to shift has already been moved by domestic carriers; the standoff now concerns the remaining 40% capacity that needs to come from international airlines.

In October, the airport proposed temporarily discontinuing 265 of Terminal 2’s 770 weekly international departure slots, affecting 46 airlines. Carriers objected to the timetable and the prospect of a forced relocation, raising concerns about consultation, passenger connections and the readiness of ground-handling and other services at Navi Mumbai.

After the Ministry of Civil Aviation intervened, the Adani Group deferred the proposed shift from the winter schedule to the summer 2027 schedule and said existing slots would not be disturbed during the winter.