Navi Mumbai airport to open on Dec 25 with limited hrs; IndiGo to operate first flight from Bengaluru

Navi Mumbai International Airport will start operations on December 25, 2025, initially from 8am to 8pm, expanding to 24/7 by February 2026.

MUMBAI: The Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) will begin commercial operations on December 25, 2025, initially functioning on a restricted 8am–8pm schedule for its first month. IndiGo will operate both inaugural services: flight 6E 460 from Bengaluru to NMIA, scheduled to touch down at 8am, followed by the first departure, 6E 882 to Hyderabad, at 8.40am.

Navi Mumbai airport to open on Dec 25 with limited hrs; IndiGo to operate first flight from Bengaluru

The airport, touted as India’s first fully digital airport, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 8, 2025.

During its soft-launch period, NMIA will handle 23 scheduled daily departures, capped at 10 aircraft movements per hour. Three airlines– IndiGo, Air India Express and Akasa Air– will operate from the airport initially, connecting Mumbai to 16 domestic destinations.

From February 2026, NMIA will shift to 24x7 operations, expanding to 34 daily departures as airlines scale up services to meet rising demand across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

Ahead of the opening, the airport is conducting extensive Operational Readiness and Airport Transfer (ORAT) trials with airlines, security agencies, and other stakeholders. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) formally took charge of airport security on 29 October 2025, with deployment across key operational areas, a spokesperson said.

Navi Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (NMIAL), the project’s special purpose vehicle, is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) between Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), a subsidiary of Adani Airports Holdings Ltd (AAHL) with a 74% stake, and CIDCO, which holds the remaining 26%.

Spread across 1,160 hectares, NMIA is designed for a final capacity of 90 million passengers per annum (MPPA), with two parallel runways, advanced cargo facilities, and a terminal inspired by the lotus, India’s national flower. The airport incorporates renewable energy, green design practices, and a fully digital passenger experience.

In its first phase, NMIA will be able to handle 20 MPPA and 0.5 million metric tonnes of cargo annually.