Mumbai/New Delhi: Akasa Air will operate flights from day one of the opening of the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA). The airport is likely to start operations from the end of Aug. The airline will start with 15 daily domestic flights and increase the number to over 40 domestic plus 8-10 international flights by next summer, said Akasa founder-CEO Vinay Dube and co-founder and chief commercial officer Praveen Iyer on Friday. “Between our 32 daily flights at Mumbai CSMIA and NMIA, we will have over 80 daily flights (both domestic and international) by next summer from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). By the financial year 2027, we will have 10 aircraft based at NMIA,” said Iyer.Akasa will operate over 100 weekly domestic departures initially, scaling up to over 300 domestic and 50 international departures weekly in the winter schedule, the airline said in a press statement. The winter schedule runs from the end of Oct to the end of March. “As part of its broader network strategy, the airline is also set to ramp up to 10 parking bases by the end of FY2027, with a focused international expansion into key Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian markets,” it added.Last month, IndiGo became the first airline to announce flights from the new airport with a total of 36 domestic departure and arrival flights connecting 15 cities from day one. By Nov, IndiGo will increase its flight frequency to 79 daily departures (158 flights per day, including arrivals). These will include 14 international departures, the airline said.Meanwhile, the Mumbai airport, which handles about 920 flights a day, will continue to handle both domestic and international flights. A few months from now, when ticket booking for flights operated to and from the Navi Mumbai airport opens, passengers will get to choose between the two airports.In phase 1, NMIA will handle 20 million passengers and 0.5 million metric tonnes (MMT) of cargo annually, with ultimate capacity expanding to 90 million passengers and 3.2 MMT of cargo in the final phase. Currently, a notice issued by the country’s air navigation provider, the Airports Authority of India (AAI), states that the Navi Mumbai airport runway will remain non-functional until Aug 6. Sources said another notice extending the closure by a few more months is likely to be issued in Aug.
