(MENAFN- Live Mint) Domestic carriers IndiGo Airlines and Akasa Air are scheduled to begin services from Mumbai Metropolitan Region's (MMR) newly constructed second airport in Navi Mumbai from next month.

Amid this development, here is a look at what routes both airlines will ply, which cities are expected to be connected, and other details.

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• According to a PTI report, IndiGo this week said that it will begin flights from the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) from December 25, connecting 10 cities.
• Which cities will IndiGo offer services to from new MMR airport? According to the airline, it will start flight operations to 10 cities across India including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Cochin, Delhi, Goa – Mopa, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mangalore, and Nagpur.
• Further, there are plans to expand to more cities by increasing the number of direct routes destinations in due course, it added.

IndiGo operates more than 2,300 flights each day to over 130 destinations, including 90 domestic airports, the report said. As per data on flight tracking website Planespotter till November 14, the carrier had 409 aircraft in its fleet, with 362 in operations and 47 on ground, it added.

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• Relatively newer carrier Akasa Air also last week announced that it will start operations from NMIA on December 25, in a“a staggered manner”, as per another PTI report.
• Akasa Air will begin with direct connections to four cities, with the first flight on December 25 being between MMR to Delhi.
• In the following days, the airline plans to start services to three other cities including Ahmedabad, Goa and Cochin.
• For its 'staggered' plan, the airline said that it wants to“progressively ramp up operations” by scaling to 300 domestic flights and 50 international weekly departures from NMIA over a period of time.
• Giving more details, Akasa said that its strategy will include increasing parking bases at the airport to 10 by FY27 end,“with a focused international expansion into key Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian markets”.

“For Akasa Air, NMIA strengthens our strategic presence in the MMR and western India, allowing us to optimise capacity deployment and capture new demand pools across,” Praveen Iyer, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Akasa Air said in a statement.

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The phase one of the newly constructed Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 8, this year, with plans for operations to commence from December 2025.

Built at a cost of ₹19,650 crore, the 1,160-hectare phase one has one terminal and one runway with an annual passenger handling capacity of 2 crore.

Notably, the strategically located NMIA has been designed to complement the existing Mumbai International Airport (MIA) and cater to the growing demand for air travel from India's financial capital. It is expected to play a pivotal role in enhancing regional connectivity and supporting economic development in western India.

(With inputs from PTI)

Key Takeaways

• Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) is designed to handle 2 crore passengers annually in its first phase.
• IndiGo and Akasa Air are launching domestic routes from NMIA to various cities in India.
• While IndiGo will begin operations to 10 cities, Akasa will start with four routes. Both plans to expand services over time.

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