Adani’s $2 Billion New Mumbai Airport draws IndiGo, SpiceJet

India’s low-cost carriers will lead the shift to the Navi Mumbai Airport, the highly anticipated second airport for the commercial capital developed by billionaire Gautam Adani, as it targets a May opening.

India’s largest airline IndiGo will shift part of its operations to the new airport, according to people familiar with the matter who did not want to be identified as the information is private.

Tata Group’s low-cost carrier Air India Express and smaller rivals SpiceJet and Akasa are also in discussions to eventually relocate all of their operations, the people added.

Air India Ltd.’s full-service carrier will continue to operate from the existing airport for now but will shift more of its domestic operations to Navi Mumbai, about 22 miles southeast of Mumbai’s congested existing aerodrome, the people said.

The Adani Group’s new $2.1 billion airport is a landmark infrastructure project for the sprawling metropolis of 21 million people aimed at reducing aviation bottlenecks and creating an international transit hub similar to Dubai, London or Singapore. Local authorities plan to build an “aero city” around the new airport to boost non-aviation sources of revenue.

Both the existing Mumbai airport and the new one on the city outskirts are managed by the Adani Group, putting the Indian ports-to-power conglomerate in a strong position as it negotiates with the airlines over moving some of their flights to the new facility.

Representatives for Adani Group, Air India, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comments.

IndiGo shares rose as much as 1.2% during trading in Mumbai while SpiceJet — the only other listed Indian carrier — had climbed as much as 6%.