After years of delays, the Navi Mumbai International Airport officially opened for commercial operations on Thursday, offering a second air travel gateway for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
On the first day of operations, 4 airlines, IndiGo, Air India Express, Akasa Air and Star Air, are operating around 30 domestic flights. The first scheduled arrival is an IndiGo flight from Bengaluru at 8 am, while the first departure, also operated by IndiGo, is a morning service to Hyderabad at 8.40 am. The terminal building opened to departing passengers at 6.40 am, an NMIA spokesperson said.
Routes and access from Mumbai Metropolitan Region
Immediate road access from various parts of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region during peak hours is as follows:
- Eastern Suburbs, Powai, 34 km via Eastern Express Highway, Vashi Bridge, Thane Belapur Road and Belapur Ulwe Road, approximately 70 minutes
- Thane, Viviana Mall area, 34 km via Eastern Express Highway, Mulund Airoli Road, Thane Belapur Road and Belapur Ulwe Road, approximately 60 minutes
- Island City, Worli, 35 km via Reach Freeway, Atal Setu and Ulwe Belapur Road, approximately 70 minutes
- Mira Road, Beverly Park, 50 km via Ghodbunder Road, Thane Belapur Road and Belapur Ulwe Road, approximately 135 minutes
- Western Suburbs, Goregaon Oberoi Mall area, 45 km via Western Express Highway, JVLR, Eastern Express Highway, Vashi Bridge, Thane Belapur Road and Belapur Ulwe Road, approximately 95 minutes
- Navi Mumbai, Vashi, 14 km via Palm Beach Road and Belapur Ulwe Road, approximately 30 minutes
- Kalyan, Dombivli, Badlapur and Ambernath via Kalyan Junction, 37 km via Shilphata Road, Sion Panvel Highway and Ulwe Belapur Road, approximately 120 minutes
Residents of the Airoli Belapur belt can use Thane Belapur Road or Palm Beach Road to reach the airport. Those from Kharghar and Panvel can access NMIA via Sion Panvel Road through Kalamboli Circle. Travellers from the western suburbs may continue to prefer Mumbai’s existing airport unless lower fares or faster connectivity options are available.
How many runways are there at Navi Mumbai airport
The Navi Mumbai International Airport has been planned with 2 parallel runways in its initial phase, with scope for future expansion to as many as 4 runways as the airport develops, a move expected to significantly ease congestion at Mumbai’s primary airport.
Inaugural passenger flights
On the first day, the NMIA is running operations from 8 am to 8 pm, with 15 scheduled departures to 9 domestic destinations. Operations will be scaled up in phases to 24 daily departures across 13 destinations, with the capacity to handle up to 10 aircraft movements per hour. Round-the-clock operations are planned by February 2026.
Passenger services
Passenger services include Digi Yatra-enabled contactless processing along with conventional check-in counters. Retail and food and beverage offerings at the terminal have been designed to be affordable and aligned with local preferences.
Infrastructure and capacity
Terminal 1 and one runway are operational in the initial phase. The terminal has an annual passenger handling capacity of 20 million and can accommodate an additional 2 to 3 million passengers beyond this level.
The airport is located around 35 to 50 km from South and North Mumbai and about 35 to 45 km from the eastern suburbs.
