With just a month to go before Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) welcomes passengers, Air India Express on 21 November began sales for daily Bengaluru and five-times-weekly Delhi services starting 25 December 2025—the inaugural day of commercial operations. The Tata-group carrier is the third airline, after IndiGo and Akasa Air, to commit to India’s newest green-field hub.
Initial frequencies will double from 1 January 2026, giving NMIA ten weekly rotations to each city. The first departure—IX 583 to Bengaluru—will leave at 08:55, underscoring the airport’s strategy of capturing morning corporate traffic before Mumbai’s traditional congestion sets in.
![Air India Express Opens Bookings for First Flights from Navi Mumbai International Airport]()
For mobility managers, NMIA’s opening is more than a capacity story: it creates redundancy for the overstretched Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and offers expatriate assignees living in Navi Mumbai’s booming business parks a 30-minute door-to-door transfer instead of a 90-minute cross-harbour slog.
Companies should update travel policies to include NMIA (IATA code expected to be NMI) and monitor airline distribution systems, as some global booking tools may not list the new airport immediately. Ground-transport providers are finalising fixed-fare cabs and app-based rides, while Maharashtra’s government has committed to last-mile bus routes to Vashi and Belapur business districts.
Initial frequencies will double from 1 January 2026, giving NMIA ten weekly rotations to each city. The first departure—IX 583 to Bengaluru—will leave at 08:55, underscoring the airport’s strategy of capturing morning corporate traffic before Mumbai’s traditional congestion sets in.
For mobility managers, NMIA’s opening is more than a capacity story: it creates redundancy for the overstretched Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and offers expatriate assignees living in Navi Mumbai’s booming business parks a 30-minute door-to-door transfer instead of a 90-minute cross-harbour slog.
Companies should update travel policies to include NMIA (IATA code expected to be NMI) and monitor airline distribution systems, as some global booking tools may not list the new airport immediately. Ground-transport providers are finalising fixed-fare cabs and app-based rides, while Maharashtra’s government has committed to last-mile bus routes to Vashi and Belapur business districts.
