Gulf Airlines Contest Mumbai Airport's Denial of Slots for 2027 Amid Redevelopment Plans

On Thursday, the Mumbai airport, operated by the Adani Group, announced to Gulf airlines serving 14 international routes that it would be unable to provide the requested slots for the Summer 2027 schedule, set to commence in late March. The airport cited capacity limitations resulting from the ongoing redevelopment of Terminal 1B. In an email addressed to the impacted carriers, the slot coordinator explained that the requested time slots could not be granted due to a temporary relocation of operations from Terminal 2 (T2). Nevertheless, the airport’s management promised the airlines that their traditional slots would return in full once the expansion of T2 is finalized, which will introduce an additional capacity of five million passengers annually.

Unilateral Decision Sparks Outrage

This notification follows the airport operator’s proposal to temporarily move international operations for 14 destinations—including Dammam, Bahrain, Dhaka, Doha, Fujairah, Jeddah, Jakarta, Kuwait City, Madinah, Muscat, Ras Al Khaimah, Riyadh, and Sharjah—away from Mumbai airport. The announcement is also timed with the approaching deadline of November 5 for releasing the Slot Allocation List (SAL) as required by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) regulations. In response, Gulf airlines have condemned the airport’s action as “unilateral,” asserting that there was a lack of consultation prior to the decision. Furthermore, they have challenged the move’s adherence to the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s (MoCA) 2013 guidelines as well as the IATA Slot Guidelines.

Capacity Reduction and Transition Plans

The airport operator has defended the necessity of a five-million passenger-per-year capacity reduction starting from Summer 2027 because part of Terminal 1B will be undergoing redevelopment. This proposed decrease coincides with plans to divert some international operations to the forthcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA). Several Indian airlines, such as Air India, IndiGo, and Akasa Air, have consented to a gradual transition to NMIA beginning in December 2026, a move expected to accommodate three million annual passengers. In contrast, foreign airlines have expressed strong opposition to this idea. The Airline Operators’ Committee (AOC) has reached out to the Civil Aviation Ministry, requesting intervention to guide Mumbai airport authorities on the capacity reduction and the slot allocation process amidst the Terminal 1B redevelopment.