"Mumbai Was Struggling For 10 Years": Gautam Adani On Navi Mumbai Airport

The Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), co-developed by Adani Airports Holdings and City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO), opened its gates today, giving a Christmas gift to passengers. Speaking to NDTV after the first commercial flight landed at the airport, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani expressed joy.

"This is a very proud moment for Mumbaikars (people of Mumbai), and we are really fortunate to have the rights to develop this airport. It is a brand-new airport, and we tried to make it a world-class airport," Gautam Adani said.

In a message to fliers, Gautam Adani assured ease of congestion at Mumbai's existing airport. 

"Mumbai was struggling for the last 10 years. The present Mumbai airport was fully jammed, and this will ease air traffic," he said.

#NDTVExclusive | "We tried to make this a world-class airport": Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani to NDTV's @reethu_journo on operations beginning at Navi Mumbai International Airport #NMIA pic.twitter.com/D5H3aEBMqc

— NDTV (@ndtv) December 25, 2025

Navi Mumbai International Airport Welcomes First Flight

IndiGo flight 6E460, travelling from Bengaluru, landed at the Navi Mumbai International Airport at 8 am and was welcomed with the water cannon salute, a ceremonial aviation tradition in which fire trucks spray arcs of water over an aircraft as it taxis.

Ahead of the inaugural flight landing, the IndiGo staff were seen cutting a cake and breaking coconuts, an auspicious tradition. 

The landing was followed by the airport's first departure, IndiGo flight 6E882 to Hyderabad, which took off at 8:40 am.

Sharing real-time updates on social media, Adani Group wrote: "A new era for Indian aviation takes shape. After years of planning and execution, Navi Mumbai International Airport stands ready to welcome its first flight. Built to serve 90 million passengers annually by the final phase, NMIA is set to unlock new possibilities not just for Mumbai, but for the entire nation."

Affordability, Accessibility At The Core

Adani Airports Holdings, which co-developed the airport with City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), aims to serve a wide range of travellers, from first-time flyers to frequent corporate passengers.

"The airport is here to cater to all passengers," Jeet Adani told NDTV Profit. "From the food to the art to the hospitality, everything has been carefully curated, keeping in mind our passengers," he added.

To make food at the airport affordable, Adani Airports is directly working with chefs, cutting out middlemen.

"We've cut all the middlemen and gone directly to the chef. We were able to price a vada pav, for example, at a decent enough price of Rs 80-100," he said.

To further support passengers and ensure ease of travel, the airport has introduced location-specific digital signage. Displays will present destination names in the local language of the city the passenger is travelling to.

(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)