Mumbai’s second airport is finally ready for takeoff. After its inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 8, the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) is set to start commercial flights operations from December 25, 2025. Though NMIA hasn’t made a formal announcement yet, domestic carriers - IndiGo and Akasa Air - have opened bookings, starting with flights to four cities.

Spread across 1,160 hectares, the airport has been developed by Navi Mumbai International Airport Limited (NMIAL), a dedicated special purpose vehicle by Adani Airports Holdings Limited and Mumbai's City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO). In the first phase, the airport will operate one terminal and one runway with an annual passenger handling capacity of 20 million. The first phase of the airport has been built at a cost of ₹19,650 crore, as per report.

In its final configuration, NMIA will operate with two runways and will be capable of handling nearly 90 million passengers annually. Together with Mumbai’s existing Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), the city’s total capacity is expected to rise to 145–150 million passengers per year once NMIA is fully functional.

As the second airport serving the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, NMIA has been developed to ease congestion at CSMIA and meet rising air travel demand from India’s financial hub. Its strategic location is expected to strengthen regional connectivity and support economic growth across western India.

Akasa Air to start operations with four cities

The airline’s first flight from the new airport will operate on December 25, 2025, connecting Delhi and Navi Mumbai, followed by additional direct services to Goa (from 25 December), Kochi (from 26 December), and Ahmedabad (from 31 December). Tickets are now available on Akasa Air’s website, mobile app, and through leading travel agents, the airline said in a release.

Commenting on the development, Praveen Iyer, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Akasa Air, said the start of operations at NMIA marks a significant step for both the airline and India’s aviation sector. He noted that the dual-airport system in Mumbai will improve connectivity and traveller choice, while NMIA will help Akasa deepen its presence in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and western India. He added that the airline’s early association with NMIA reflects its confidence in India’s infrastructure expansion and its commitment to enabling balanced regional development.

Akasa Air plans to steadily increase its operations from NMIA, eventually reaching 300 domestic and 50 international departures per week. As part of its long-term network strategy, the airline is also targeting 10 parking bases by FY2027, alongside a focused push into major markets across the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

IndiGo to connect with 10 cities

IndiGo has announced that it will begin flight operations from NMIA starting 25 December 2025. In the first phase, the low-cost carrier will connect NMIA to ten cities across its domestic network — Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, North Goa (Mopa), Jaipur, Nagpur, Cochin, and Mangalore. The airline also plans to gradually expand its presence at the airport by adding more direct routes over time.

The launch of IndiGo’s operations will contribute significantly to this end by connecting the airport to its vast domestic network of 95 airports across the country, the airline said in a release.