IndiGo CEO Willie Walsh outlines plans to operate across both Mumbai airports, viewing the new Navi Mumbai facility as a key expansion opportunity while advocating for competitive airport charges to support the growing Indian aviation sector.
IndiGo’s Strategic Outlook for Mumbai
IndiGo sees its future operations spread across both Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) and Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), with the latter offering a significant opportunity for the airline’s expansion in the Mumbai aviation market, IndiGo CEO Willie Walsh said. Highlighting the importance of both airports in the airline’s future plans, Walsh said Navi Mumbai Airport would provide an opportunity to further strengthen IndiGo’s operations in the region. “Navi Mumbai Airport is a big opportunity for IndiGo. Our future will be at both Mumbai and Navi Mumbai,” Walsh said.
Dialogue and Competitive Charges
Commenting on the airline’s engagement with Adani Airports, which operates both Mumbai and Navi Mumbai airports, Walsh said he had a positive discussion with Adani Airports CEO Arun Bansal and that both sides had agreed to maintain regular dialogue. Walsh said he hoped the discussions would help airport operators better understand the challenges faced by airlines and work towards addressing them.
Push for Fair Pricing
Emphasising the need for competitive airport charges, Walsh said airports should offer better value to airlines, pointing out that they operate as effective monopolies. He added that lower taxes and airport charges would help improve the competitiveness of India’s aviation market. “We are always looking for better value from the airports, and we’ll continue to look for them to be much more competitive when it comes to pricing, given that they are effective monopolies,” he said.
Redistributing Flight Operations
The comments come amid plans to redistribute international flight operations between Mumbai’s two airports. At a meeting with the Airline Operators Committee (AOC) on Wednesday, the airport operator said IndiGo, Air India and Akasa Air had finalised plans to shift international operations accounting for around three million passengers annually to Navi Mumbai International Airport. The proposed transfer is expected to help distribute passenger traffic between the existing Mumbai airport and the newly developed Navi Mumbai facility, while creating additional capacity for the Mumbai metropolitan region’s growing aviation market.
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