Mumbai airport to cut a 3rd of weekly international departures from T2 from Oct 25

MUMBAI: Mumbai airport is set to temporarily cut 265 of its 770 weekly international departure slots from Oct 25, and travellers are likely to pay for it one way or another this winter. The cut will hit 46 Indian and foreign airlines and remove about 38 international departures a day.

If an airline moves the cut flights to Navi Mumbai, passengers face pricier cab rides. If it cancels them outright or moves them to other cities like Hyderabad or Bengaluru, fewer seats from Mumbai in the festive peak could push up fares.

In its Oct 1 letter to airlines, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) said the slots and ground infrastructure freed up will be used for domestic flights displaced by the partial demolition of Mumbai airport Terminal 1 (T1). T1, which handles only domestic flights, is set for phased redevelopment, from Jan 15, 2027.

IndiGo will lose 74 of its 224 weekly international departure slots, Air India 33 of 100, Air India Express seven of 21, Akasa Air 11 of 32 and SpiceJet five of 14. Etihad and Emirates lose 10 of 28 each, and British Airways seven of 21. Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Kuwait Airways, Thai Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Oman Air, Ethiopian Airlines, Srilankan Airlines, Air Arabia, etc., will lose five out of 14 slots. Most carriers flying daily services lose three weekly slots. Airlines did not comment.