NEW DELHI: Mumbai airport, in a letter to the civil aviation ministry, said it plans to move international flights to and from 14 destinations of all airlines-Indian and foreign- out of Mumbai to Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) next summer.The 14 destinations are Bahrain, Dammam, Dhaka, Doha, Fujairah, Jakarta, Jeddah, Kathmandu, Kuwait City, Madinah, Muscat, Ras Al Khaimah, Riyadh and Sharjah. On Nov 25, Air India Group and IndiGo announced that they will progressively move from Dec to July a total of 38 daily international flights from Mumbai airport to Navi Mumbai.In its letter, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) said if (foreign) airlines don’t get on board and move some of their flights to Navi Mumbai or cancel them altogether, the operator will move all flights to and from the 14 destinations to Navi Mumbai.To carry out the demolition of Mumbai Terminal 1, MIAL wants to cut international flights at T2 by a third so that domestic flights displaced by T1 demolition can be accommodated at T2. MIAL asked airlines to inform by Nov 3 at the latest which slots they will temporarily vacate at Mumbai airport for the next summer season from March-end. MIAL is learnt to have requested the ministry if airlines don’t revert, it plans to implement the 14 foreign destinations plan. Sources say these cities have been chosen to ensure all MMR connectivity to them is at NMIA.The ministry is going to consider this and take a decision after considering all factors. “Aviation secretary Samir Sinha is seized of the matter and a decision that keeps passenger interest above everything else will be taken,” said sources.
