10 smaller Gulf carriers denied airport slots at Mumbai

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more.

Unlock these with Subscription

The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective.

First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming.

Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day.

Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in!

Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers

THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers

Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there

Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary.

The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features.

Published - November 05, 2026 09:08 pm IST - NEW DELHI

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

File | Photo Credit: Reuters

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.

Shift to Navi Mumbai or stop flying to Mumbai: Adani Airports CEO tells foreign airlines

Foreign airlines grouping urges for alternatives to flight cuts at Mumbai airport

Centre intervenes to buy airlines more time at Adani’s Mumbai airport

Mumbai airport, airlines clash over Navi Mumbai shift

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.

Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences.

They cannot be abusive or personal.

Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform.

If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles.

If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments.

Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.