Fadnavis' proposal for phased redevelopment of Mumbai airport's terminal 1

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has presented an important proposal for the phased redevelopment of Terminal 1 (T1) of the Mumbai International Airport. According to a report by The Hindu, he has suggested that the current terminal should remain operational until the new location of the terminal is ready, so that there is no disruption in flight services and passengers do not face any difficulties.

Regarding this, the Chief Minister has written a letter to the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation proposing an alternative sequence for redevelopment. Under this proposal, the construction of the new terminal will be done before demolishing the old terminal. A senior official of the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) told PTI, "The idea is to develop it concurrently so that there is no need to transfer or cancel flights."

Under this proposed plan, Terminal 1-B (T1B) of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai will be developed first. Thereafter, all operations and functioning of Terminal 1-A (T1A) will be shifted to Terminal 1-B. Once this process is completed, Terminal 1-A will be demolished and reconstructed. In this way, the airport will be able to redevelop in phases instead of shutting down the entire terminal at once.

Palpably, the need for the redevelopment of Terminal 1 is primarily to address infrastructure and safety-related concerns. These safety matters came to light in audits conducted by Structwel in 2017 and by the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) in 2024.

Mumbai airport operator Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) had initially planned to partially shift international operations starting October 25 of this year. However, as concerns regarding this transition plan were expressed by various foreign airlines, this deadline has now been extended to March 2027. Two weeks ago, representatives of over 35 airlines and Mumbai airport officials discussed the plan for partially shifting international flights to the New Mumbai International Airport (NMIA). There was a constructive dialogue between both parties in this meeting, and detailed schedules for the redevelopment of T1 were presented by MIAL.

With the construction of the new Terminal 1, the passenger handling capacity will be increased from 15 million per annum (MPPA) to 20 million per annum (MPPA). Along with this, major improvements will also be made in passenger processing facilities, security checks, and other infrastructural amenities. It is targeted that the newly redeveloped terminal with all these facilities will become operational by March 2029.

Terminal 1 was built in 1964.