The revamp of Mumbai airport’s ageing terminal 1 (T1) is likely to get delayed as the upcoming Navi Mumbai airport is expected to take longer-than-anticipated time to achieve operational stability.
The terminal 1 is dedicated to domestic flights and handled 14 million passengers a year. After the revamp, which entails replacing the current building with a modern structure, it will have the capacity to handle 20 million passengers a year.
In January this year, Adani Airport Holdings (AAHL) director Jeet Adani stated that the redevelopment of terminal 1 will start in November and that the Navi Mumbai airport will manage the capacity gap.
However, responding to an analyst’s question on Friday, Jugeshinder Singh, group chief financial officer, Adani Enterprises, said, “We have not finalised the start date (of the demolition of T1), but yes we need to first stabilise the Navi Mumbai airport so that the airlines are comfortable operating there. Once we ourselves are confident of the operational stability of both airports, then only we will decide.”
“It won’t be a rush, it won’t be near-term… Once we announce the proper transition to Navi Mumbai and the operational stabilisation of that airport, in consultation with airlines, we will determine what the best timing is (for the demolition of T1),” Singh added.
The T1 redevelopment plan includes infrastructure upgrades such as district cooling, cutting-edge electrical sub-stations, and a better baggage handling system.
Under the plan, passengers will be able to experience seamless connectivity — from direct metro access to underground bus stations. AAHL had announced the inauguration of the redeveloped T1 to take place in 2028-29.
The Navi Mumbai airport is expected to start commercial operations in June, after missing two deadlines. It plans to start operations with domestic flights, followed by international flights a few months later.
AAHL expects to start the work on Navi Mumbai airport’s phase 2 immediately after stabilisation of phase 1 which would take the capacity from 20 million to 60 million passengers a year.