Air India Express to launch first international route from Navi Mumbai Airport

Abu Dhabi will be the first international connection from the recently opened Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) next month.

The new route connecting Mumbai and India’s newest international air hub and Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport will be operated by Air India’s low cost subsidiary Air India Express from July 15. Two weekly flights will be operated at the start before a third weekly flight will be added to the schedule from July 29. It adds to Air India Express’ current daily flights to Abu Dhabi from Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMI).

Opened in late December 2025, the NMIA was developed to supplement the capacity at CSMI. The airport currently serves domestic flights operated by Indian budget carriers Air India Express, Akasa Air, and IndiGo. Among the Indian cities with regular services to NMIA include Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkkata, and Hyderabad.

With the new route to Abu Dhabi, Air India Express will operate 30 weekly flights from NMIA including domestic flights to Delhi and Bengaluru.

Between Mumbai and Abu Dhabi, IndiGo, Etihad, and Akasa Air are the other airline operators offering flights on the route from CSMI.