Air India Group will commence commercial flight operations from Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) under the Phase 1 launch of the airport.

Announced Tuesday, the group's low-cost airline, Air India Express, will operate over 20 daily flights (40 Air Traffic Movements or ATMs) to over 15 cities across India.

The airline group eventually plans to expand to 55 daily departures, including 5 international flights by mid-2026, and further to 60 daily departures by the second half of next calendar year.

Air India Group, comprising Air India and Air India Express, operates over 300 aircraft across 55 domestic and 45 international destinations.

The Air India Group is not the first airline to announce flights from the upcoming airport. IndiGo in May this year announced that it will operate 18 daily flights in the first phase, expanding to 140 daily departures (including 30 international) by November next year. Meanwhile, Akasa Air also announced in June to operate over 100 weekly domestic flights, eventually expanding to 300 domestic and 50 international weekly flights by next year.

Operated by Adani Airport Holdings Ltd., the NMIA is a greenfield project in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, strategically located near Mumbai Metropolitan Region and Western India. The project is being developed as a public-private partnership between Adani Airports (74%) and City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (CIDCO) (26%).

The airport will create a dual-airport system for Mumbai, decongesting the city’s existing airport, enhancing passenger experience, and boosting regional economic growth.

Spanning 2,866 acres, NMIA will feature two parallel runways, modern terminal buildings, advanced cargo facilities, and sustainable infrastructure. In its initial phase, it will handle 20 million passengers and 0.5 million metric tons (MMT) of cargo annually, scaling up to 90 million passengers and 3.2 MMT upon full completion.