Nearly 91% International Traffic To Remain Unaffected By Mumbai Airport's T1 Upgrade

Around 91 per cent of international passenger traffic at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) will remain unaffected during the redevelopment of Terminal 1, with 39 of the 50 international airlines continuing operations at the airport under the Summer 2027 schedule.

The remaining 11 carriers, which together operate around 16 daily departures to select destinations, may shift the affected services to the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) from the end of March 2027, people aware of the matter said.

Major international airlines, including Emirates, Etihad Airways, Singapore Airlines, SriLankan Airlines, Thai Airways, British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France and Turkish Airlines, will continue operating from CSMIA's Terminal 2.

The redevelopment of Terminal 1, commissioned in 1964, is being undertaken primarily to address structural and safety concerns flagged in audits conducted by Structwel in 2017 and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in 2024, the people said.

The findings have underscored the need to replace the ageing, six-decade-old facility with modern infrastructure, they said.

The temporary redistribution of flights is expected to affect around five million passengers annually, or about 9 per cent of CSMIA's total annual traffic of about 55 million. The remaining 50 million passengers will continue to be handled at the Mumbai airport during the transition.

Domestic carriers, including IndiGo, Air India and Akasa Air, have also announced plans to shift flights serving certain destinations to NMIA.

The proposed transition is aimed at creating the operational headroom needed to carry out the redevelopment while minimising disruption to airport operations and passengers, the people said.

The new Terminal 1 is expected to increase the terminal's passenger-handling capacity from 15 million passengers per annum (MPPA) to 20 MPPA, a rise of about 33 per cent. It will also feature upgrades to passenger processing, security screening and other infrastructure, with the redeveloped facility targeted to become operational by March 2029.

CSMIA has assured airlines that their historical slot allocations will remain protected during the temporary transition.

The redevelopment comes as Mumbai's aviation infrastructure prepares for the addition of NMIA, which is expected to take on part of the traffic currently handled by the capacity-constrained CSMIA.

The proposed shift of select services will allow CSMIA to undertake major infrastructure work without relocating the bulk of its international operations. Keeping 39 international airlines at Terminal 2 is also expected to limit the impact on passengers and airline connectivity.

At the same time, the move will provide NMIA an opportunity to absorb additional airline operations as Mumbai's second airport becomes part of the metropolitan aviation network.

The redevelopment will add five million passengers a year in handling capacity at Terminal 1.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)