In an exclusive chat with The Times of India, Jeet Adani, Director, Adani Airports Holdings Ltd (AAHL), explains one or two flights may be moved to help alleviate peak load.The Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), set to open on December 25, will impose a higher user development fee (UDF) than Mumbai’s current airport, making it costlier to fly out of Navi Mumbai.
However, the Adani Group is working towards a unified user development tariff for both airports and the difference in prices for tickets at Mumbai and Navi Mumbai airport will be short-term.
Under the current UDF structure, domestic departing passengers at NMIA will pay Rs 620 extra for every ticket, compared to Rs 175 at Mumbai airport.
For domestic arrivals, the UDF fee at NMIA will be Rs 270, while Mumbai charges Rs 75. The UDF fee for International passengers will be steeper: NMIA’s departing UDF will be Rs 1,225, and arriving passengers will pay Rs 525 — both significantly higher than the charges at Mumbai airport.
The UDF is a prominent airport fee, added to the ticket price at purchase and collected by airlines on behalf of the airport operator. The UDF, however, is just one element in pricing a ticket. The final price of a ticket depends on multiple factors.
“On day one, Navi Mumbai will be more expensive, but we’re working on aligning the tariffs for both airports to eliminate any price difference,” said Jeet Adani, Director of Adani Airports Holdings Ltd (AAHL), in an exclusive interview with The Times of India.
He confirmed that the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) has agreed in principle to a unified tariff structure, with the final methodology for implementation now under review.
AAHL, which operates both NMIA and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai, is planning to redistribute certain peak-hour flights from Mumbai to reduce congestion. Additionally, AAHL intends to begin Phase 2 construction at NMIA and, once complete, will focus on demolishing and rebuilding Mumbai airport’s Terminal 1.
“CSMIA has been operating under severe capacity constraints for nearly a decade due to its single-runway design,” said Adani. “To ease this, some flights, particularly during peak hours, will be moved from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai. We may shift one or two flights to help alleviate the peak load.”
Mumbai’s single runway is operating beyond its intended capacity. The main runway is designed to safely handle 44 take-offs and landings per hour, but during peak periods, air traffic control often exceeds this limit.
“It’s high time Mumbai gets additional capacity. Navi Mumbai will not only open up the city to more regional destinations but also to greater global connectivity — a feat Delhi has managed better than Mumbai,” Adani added.
On the day of its opening, NMIA is expected to handle 48 flights. For the first two months, the airport will operate for 12 hours a day, starting at 8 am. By February, it will operate 24/7, and international flights are set to begin in March, with airlines anticipated to double their flight volumes.
Mumbai airport currently handles around 950 flights daily and serves roughly 55 million passengers each year.
Regarding redevelopment plans at the existing Mumbai airport, Adani confirmed that Terminal 1’s demolition will only occur once Navi Mumbai airport’s Terminal 2 is completed, which is expected around 2030.
The Adani Group plans to invest around Rs 1 lakh crore across its airport portfolio in the next five years. The current phase of Navi Mumbai airport has already attracted nearly Rs 20,000 crore in investment.
Additionally, Adani outlined plans for significant expansion in the hospitality sector, with around 15 hotels planned for Navi Mumbai alone. Across its airport and real estate projects, the group aims to develop more than 60 hotels, positioning itself as one of the largest hotel portfolios in India.
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