Jewar to Navi Mumbai flight begins; flyers cheer shorter, cheaper travel

SArita Parmar, who workings in Navi bombay, had to occupy a 1,300-km rail journeying whenever she travelled to western Uttar Pradesh to visit her family in Mathura. On Tuesday, she was among the 185 passengers who boarded Akasa Air’s inaugural flight connecting India’s two greenfield airports—Noida International Airport (NIA) and Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA).“Taking a flight from Noida would save much of my time and also make me land closer to home in Navi Mumbai,” she told HT on board the near-housefull flight.Tuesday’s flight was the first direct air link between NIA and the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), which started operations in December 2025. “The route is expected to cater to business and leisure travellers from the National Capital Region (NCR) and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR),” an airline official said.The official said the response to the flight bookings was better than anticipated.Dr Rupali Srivastava, who teaches at the Gautam Buddha University, said she was travelling to her sister’s place with her children for the summer break. “It took me only 30 minutes to reach Noida airport, compared to at least 100 minutes earlier when I travelled to Delhi airport,” she said, adding that the compact terminal required significantly less walking.Bhavika Bhanushali, a resident of Ghatkopar who frequently flies to Delhi, said she opted for the flight from Jewar because the fare was at least ₹2,500 cheaper.NIA, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March, opened to flights on Monday and currently handles about 20 daily flight movements. Airport officials expect that number to scale up to 35 by next month. “Night operations will commence once international flights start. For now, all operations are restricted to the daytime,” an airport official said.The airport, which is currently handling around 20 flight movements a day, is expected to handle about 35 daily movements from next month as airlines gradually expand operations.“Flight plans for the coming months are yet to be finalised. However, all operations will continue during the daytime,” an airport official said. “Night operations at NIA will commence once the airport starts handling international flights.”Kapil Kaul, chief executive officer and director of aviation advisory firm CAPA India, said the airport’s catchment area accounts for 10-12 million passengers and nearly 40% of the cargo traffic in the NCR region.“Noida and Navi Mumbai airports will emerge as new growth centres for aviation. We expect significant traffic between the two airports, which will continue to grow. The initial focus will be on domestic operations, followed by regional and international services,” he said.According to aviation industry experts, the route has the potential to become an important corridor connecting the NCR and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, both of which generate substantial passenger traffic.“Noida airport will structurally transform the economics of the NCR and help build infrastructure aligned with aviation growth,” Kaul added.A former airline executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity, cautioned that connectivity remained a key challenge.“Authorities now need to focus on improving access to the airport through not just roads but also metro connectivity. I believe the airport’s future growth will largely depend on its landside connectivity,” the executive said, adding that passengers would not be willing to tolerate inadequate connectivity for long.