Navi Mumbai International Airport marked a major milestone on Christmas Day as it began operations with its first commercial arrival. IndiGo flight 6E460 from Bengaluru landed at 8 am and received a ceremonial water cannon salute, signalling the airport’s operational debut.
The incident took place in Navi Mumbai, in northern India’s Maharashtra, on December 25.
Visuals show that IndiGo flight 6E 460 from Bengaluru received a ceremonial water cannon salute on arrival, marking the first commercial landing at Navi Mumbai International Airport. Fire tenders sprayed arcs of water over the aircraft at sunrise as support vehicles stood stationed on the runway.
According to reports, ahead of the first landing, IndiGo staff marked the launch of Navi Mumbai International Airport with traditional rituals, including a cake cutting ceremony and the breaking of coconuts to seek good fortune. Soon after, the airport recorded its first departure when IndiGo flight 6E882 bound for Hyderabad took off at 8.40 am, signalling the start of regular flight operations.
On its opening day, the airport is scheduled to handle 15 flights operated by multiple airlines, linking the new aviation hub to nine domestic destinations. Carriers including IndiGo, Air India Express, Akasa Air, and Star Air have begun services from the Adani Group-promoted facility. During the initial phase, flight operations will run for 12 hours daily, from 8 am to 8 pm. The airport has the capacity to manage up to 24 scheduled departures to 13 destinations and accommodate nearly 10 aircraft movements per hour.
IndiGo services will connect Navi Mumbai with cities such as Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, North Goa at Mopa, Jaipur, Nagpur, Kochi, and Mangaluru. Akasa Air will operate flights to Delhi, Goa, Kochi, and Ahmedabad. Star Air has announced services to Ahmedabad, Goa at Mopa, Bengaluru, and Nanded.
From the first day of operations, passengers will have access to Digi Yatra-enabled contactless travel facilities at select touchpoints. Trained terminal staff have been deployed across kerbside areas, check-in counters, security checkpoints, and boarding gates to assist travellers. Airport authorities have advised passengers to arrive at least two hours before scheduled domestic departures on the opening day to ensure smooth processing.
The greenfield airport project was initially proposed in 1997 by the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra. While construction gained momentum around eight years ago, progress was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the project in 2018 and formally inaugurated the airport on October 8, 2025, marking a significant addition to India’s aviation infrastructure.
