Emirates says Navi Mumbai airport is not ready; NMIA sources dispute it

Emirates has said Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) is not ready for airlines to shift international operations there. Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, the airline's senior vice-president for commercial operations in West Asia and the Indian Ocean, spoke in Delhi on Wednesday, October 14, according to the Free Press Journal, which attributes the remarks to a Times of India report.

What Emirates said

Asked whether Emirates would move part of its Mumbai operations to NMIA, Ahmad replied that the airport is not ready, per Business Today. He said it lacks supporting infrastructure, including catering and cargo warehousing, and that it would be difficult for any airline to shift until it becomes a fully built ecosystem.

Both reports say Emirates has not ruled out flying from NMIA. Ahmad said it could consider NMIA and Noida if India and the UAE grant additional flying rights, since Emirates and Indian carriers already use their existing entitlements in full. Business Today reports the India-Dubai arrangement allows about 67,000 seats a week in each direction, and that Ahmad said NMIA could give access to the Pune market and to commercial areas including Nhava Sheva Port, but that launching there would require enhanced rights.

The response

The Free Press Journal reports that sources at NMIA disputed the assessment. They said the airport has already handled cargo and has a scalable inflight kitchen, and noted that Emirates caters its India-UAE flights from Dubai rather than from facilities in India. The article does not name these sources and does not mention a statement from the Adani Group. Business Today carries no direct statement from NMIA or the Adani Group either.

Background

Business Today reports that Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), controlled by the Adani Group, had proposed moving 265 of its 770 weekly international departures to NMIA by October 25 as part of a plan tied to redeveloping Mumbai's Terminal 1. Airlines opposed it, the Ministry of Civil Aviation became involved, and MIAL later assured airlines that flights would not shift until at least the end of March 2027. The Free Press Journal says the shift has been deferred until summer, without specifying a year.

Business Today cites aviation analytics firm Cirium for Emirates operating 167 weekly flights from nine Indian cities to Dubai, 35 of them from Mumbai.

What the record shows

The statement that the airport is not ready is Emirates' assessment. The only response in the reports read comes from unnamed NMIA sources, and neither report presents an inspection, a regulator's finding or a statement from the airport's operator on the record.