Adani Airports CEO says competing with airline customers isn’t smart, targets 300 million annual passengers, and details Mumbai Terminal 1-2 plans.
Arun Bansal, chief executive officer of Adani Airport Holdings Ltd, during the Aviation India summit in New Delhi, India, on Tuesday | Photo Credit: Bloomberg
Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL) does not want to compete with its airline customers, Chief Executive Officer Arun Bansal said, while distinguishing the airport operator’s position from that of the wider Adani Group.
Speaking at the Aviation India and South Asia 2026 summit on Tuesday, Bansal said competing with companies using its airports would not be a sound business strategy.
“Never a good strategy to compete with your customer,” he said, responding to a question on whether Adani would enter the airline business.
However, he stressed that AAHL, which he represents, and the wider Adani Group should be viewed separately in this context.
Besides, Bansal said India deserved three large national carriers, with a third airline comparable in scale to IndiGo and Air India providing greater choice. He described this as his broader view as a citizen.
Meanwhile, AAHL aims to handle about 300 million passengers annually across its network over the next 10 years, against about 100 million currently across eight airports.
Growth would come through expansion of existing facilities, airport privatisation and greenfield projects, Bansal said.
“I am convinced that by 2040 at least 20 cities need to have dual airports,” he said, adding that greenfield opportunities could emerge over the next five to seven years.
The company would prioritise India while considering overseas projects opportunistically, where these offered a compelling strategic fit.
On Mumbai, Bansal said both the existing airport and Navi Mumbai airport were needed to accommodate demand. AAHL is accelerating work on Terminal 2 at Navi Mumbai, he added.
Addressing concerns over Mumbai airport’s Terminal 1 redevelopment, he said November 5 was the deadline under the slot-allocation process for the summer 2027 schedule, rather than one independently imposed by the operator.
However, AAHL would follow any government direction to extend the deadline, he said.
The existing Terminal 1 was commissioned in 1964. According to the airport operator, independent structural audits by Structwel in 2017 and IIT Bombay in 2024 highlighted safety and structural vulnerabilities, supporting the need for redevelopment.
Domestic operations displaced from Terminal 1 would need to move to Terminal 2, requiring an equivalent temporary reduction in traffic there, Bansal said.
Businessline had earlier reported that Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) proposed restricting capacity equivalent to five million passengers annually from the summer 2027 schedule.
According to MIAL, Air India Group, IndiGo and Akasa Air have finalised plans to shift international operations accounting for about three million passengers annually to Navi Mumbai—around 60 per cent of the proposed transition.
Airlines had questioned the capacity reduction, citing Terminal 1’s underutilisation and compliance with the Civil Aviation Ministry’s slot-allocation guidelines.
Bansal maintained that carriers were not being compelled to relocate specifically to Navi Mumbai. Foreign airlines could move their entire operations there, subject to slots and capacity, explore other airports or temporarily suspend affected services.
He said slots would be restored when Terminal 1 reopened. Domestic feeder flights and connecting international services would also need to move together to avoid passengers transferring between airports.
AAHL had earlier said redevelopment would increase Terminal 1’s annual capacity by about 33 per cent, from 15 million to 20 million passengers.
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