Photo: Adani /Navi Mumbai
Cargo airlines serving India are adapting and responding to the operational disruption at Mumbai Airport by reorganising services out of Navi Mumbai International (NMIA), Adani Group’s newest investment in the country.
Because of extensive airside infrastructure improvement works, Mumbai Airport — under severe capacity strain for some time — has imposed temporary restrictions on freighter operations until next May.
NMIA, which opened in late 2025, claims as many as 13 new freighter services are set to take off soon, connecting major markets across Asia and Europe. And yesterday, Hong Kong Air Cargo yesterday became its first international freighter operator, with a service on behalf of DHL Global Forwarding.
The all-cargo carrier will operate thrice-weekly flights between Hong Kong and NMIA with an A330-200F freighter it says has the capacity to carry 60 tons.
The airport authority said: “With phased, scalable, and tech-enabled cargo infrastructure designed for domestic, international express and specialised shipments, NMIA continues to strengthen its role as an integrated logistics and trade gateway for Maharashtra State and Western India,” it added.
With Hong Kong-based Cathay Cargo and Air France-KLM having reportedly finalised plans to shift hub operations from Mumbai to NMIA, home-grown freighter lines like IndiGo-led CarGo and Chennai-based Afcom Holdings have already made their debut, and last month, Tata Group-owned Air India opened up belly cargo space for Indian exports on services to Abu Dhabi.
Adani has ambitious air cargo development plans for NMIA, targeting to handle some 800,000 tons of cargo in the initial phase of operations, scaling up to three million tons in phases.
Indian air cargo industry stakeholders have upbeat expectations from the new terminal, as trade volumes pick up pace. Combined cargo volumes handled by Indian airports surged 16% year on year in June, with international freight handling up 19% for the month, according to the latest data.
“NMIA is poised to be the new freighter hub for India in the coming years,” Mumbai-based industry veteran Joy John told The Loadstar.
“Several major carriers, including Lufthansa, Emirates, Turkish, and FedEx, will start operating their freighters from Navi Mumbai, subject to internal approvals and SOPs [standard operating procedures] being aligned with the cargo terminal,” he reckoned.
Vineet Malhotra, co-founder and director at Kale Logistics Solutions, which provides cargo community system services at NNMIA, said the airport was “developing at a remarkable pace and is well positioned to realise its long-term capacity”.
He added: “The next-generation of airports will not compete simply on physical capacity, they will compete on how intelligently they move cargo, connect stakeholders, predict disruptions, and facilitate trade.”
Historically, Gulf carriers have dominated the Indian airfreight market, presently accounting for some 20% of total capacity, but Indian airlines are now working harder than ever to grab a slice of the freight boom.
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