Navi Mumbai airport not ready for international flights? Emirates flags infrastructure gaps

Navi Mumbai International Airport is not yet equipped to handle international flights, as it lacks supporting infrastructure such as catering facilities and cargo warehousing, Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, senior vice-president for commercial operations (West Asia and Indian Ocean) at Emirates Airline, reported Business Standard.

Ahmad said airlines would find it difficult to shift operations to the airport until it developed into a fully functional aviation ecosystem.

The remarks come amid a dispute over plans to move international flights from Mumbai airport to Navi Mumbai. A few weeks ago, Adani group-controlled Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) asked airlines to shift 265 of its 770 weekly international departures to Navi Mumbai by October 25, citing plans to redevelop Terminal 1 at Mumbai airport.

Airlines strongly opposed the proposal, escalating the matter to the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

On Tuesday, MIAL held a meeting with airlines and assured them that no international flights would be shifted until at least the end of March.

Asked whether Emirates would move 33% of its Mumbai flights to Navi Mumbai if the airport operator revived its proposal, Ahmad told reporters, “The airport is not ready.”

Elaborating on the infrastructure required to support airline operations, he said, “At an airport, you will require a facility for catering. You will require a facility, for example, for cargo warehousing. You will require those elements. Until it gets fully built into an ecosystem, I think it’s going to be difficult for any of the airlines to shift there,” he said.

Emirates open to Navi Mumbai operations, but seeks additional flight rights

Emirates is open to considering operations at new airports, including Navi Mumbai and Noida, provided it receives additional flight and seat entitlements under the air service agreement between India and the United Arab Emirates, Ahmad said.

The airline is currently operating at the full capacity permitted under its existing entitlements. Navi Mumbai could also provide access to a new market closer to Pune, he added, but Emirates would need additional entitlements before considering operations there.

Bilateral air service rights are agreements between two countries that determine the number of flights and seats their designated airlines can offer, along with the routes and airports they can serve. These limits mean airlines cannot freely add flights or begin operations at new airports, even when passenger demand is strong.

Ahmad put Emirates’ Dubai-related entitlement at around 67,000 seats a week in each direction. Any increase would require an agreement between the two governments.

Emirates to deploy A380 on Delhi-Dubai route from October 26

Emirates on Wednesday held a static display of its A380 aircraft at Delhi airport ahead of its deployment on the Delhi-Dubai route from October 26.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the event, Ahmad said Delhi remained an important market for the airline and that Emirates would continue operating four daily flights from Dubai to the city.

One flight will be operated using the A380, while the other three will use retrofitted Boeing 777 aircraft. Ahmad said the upgraded aircraft would offer first-class, business-class, premium-economy and economy cabins.

Emirates’ India passenger traffic recovers after West Asia conflict

Ahmad said passenger load factors on Emirates’ India services were initially affected by the West Asia conflict but were recovering and approaching pre-conflict levels.

He declined to provide a precise load factor figure ahead of the airline’s half-year results announcement in November.

Separately, Ahmad said Emirates was operating at 96% of its pre-conflict global network capacity, while passenger traffic had recovered to around 93% of pre-conflict levels globally.

Emirates operates 167 weekly flights from India to Dubai

According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, Emirates operates 167 flights a week from nine Indian destinations to Dubai.

Mumbai accounts for the highest frequency, with 35 flights a week, followed by Delhi with 28. Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad each have 21 weekly flights, while Kochi has 14, Kolkata 11, Ahmedabad nine and Thiruvananthapuram seven.

The total weekly frequency remains unchanged from October 2025.