Mumbai travellers get new Abu Dhabi flight as Navi Mumbai airport goes international

Air India Express begins three weekly Abu Dhabi flights from India’s newest airport

Last updated: July 15, 2026 | 10:25

Nivetha Dayanand, Assistant Business Editor

2 MIN READ

Dubai: Travellers from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region now have another direct option to reach the UAE after Navi Mumbai International Airport launched its first international service to Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

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Air India Express began operating three flights a week between Navi Mumbai and the UAE capital from July 15, marking the start of scheduled international operations at India’s newest greenfield airport.

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The overseas expansion comes less than 200 days after Navi Mumbai airport opened for domestic services on December 25, 2025, giving passengers across the region an alternative to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.

New UAE connection

The Abu Dhabi service strengthens travel links between one of India’s largest urban and commercial centres and the UAE, while supporting Navi Mumbai airport’s role as the second international gateway serving the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

Navi Mumbai airport has served more than 2.3 million passengers and built connections to 46 domestic destinations in less than seven months. It currently handles around 150 aircraft movements each day.

More international routes planned

The Abu Dhabi service is the first of several international routes planned from the airport, with additional airlines and destinations expected to join its network as operations expand.

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The inaugural international flight also carried the airport’s first overseas shipment of perishable goods, opening another route to global markets for Indian exporters handling time-sensitive products.

International passenger and cargo services are expected to support additional aviation capacity across Mumbai and western India while improving links with overseas tourism and trade markets.

Nivetha DayanandAssistant Business Editor

Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, where she spends her days unpacking money, markets, aviation, and the big shifts shaping life in the Gulf. Before returning to Gulf News, she launched Finance Middle East, complete with a podcast and video series. Her reporting has taken her from breaking spot news to long-form features and high-profile interviews. Nivetha has interviewed Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu, IMF’s Jihad Azour, and a long list of CEOs, regulators, and founders who are reshaping the region’s economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha has shared classrooms and newsrooms with journalists from more than 40 countries, which probably explains her weakness for data, context, and a good follow-up question. When she is away from her keyboard (AFK), you are most likely to find her at the gym with an Eminem playlist, bingeing One Piece, or exploring games on her PS5.