Akasa Air to fly twice daily from Navi Mumbai to Jeddah from December 15

Direct flights from Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia will begin on December 15, 2026. Akasa Air will operate the service, an official statement said on Friday.

The service will run twice a day. The statement expressed the expectation that it would strengthen air connectivity between the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Saudi Arabia and meet the growing demand for travel for religious, business and tourism purposes.

Passengers from Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and surrounding areas will get one more option to fly directly to Jeddah. Jeddah is an important gateway to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

Akasa Air will use a 197-seat Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft on the route. The airline has opened bookings for the new flights on major booking platforms.

The schedule effective December 15 is as follows. QP 557 from Navi Mumbai to Jeddah departs at 4.45 am. QP 558 from Jeddah to Navi Mumbai departs at 7.35 am. QP 559 from Navi Mumbai to Jeddah departs at 5.25 pm. QP 560 from Jeddah to Navi Mumbai departs at 5.25 am and will begin on December 16.

With two flights a day in each direction, passengers will have greater flexibility when planning travel between the two places.

Jeddah is an important international gateway for pilgrims travelling to Mecca and Medina for Umrah and Haj. The service is expected to benefit pilgrims from Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra, as more direct flight options to Saudi Arabia become available. It is also said to support business travel, trade and tourism between Maharashtra and Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, foreign airlines operating from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai have recommended shifting some selected international services, by destination, to Navi Mumbai airport during the redevelopment of Terminal 1 (T1), sources said. The sources cited a letter the airport operator sent to the government.

According to the sources, Vishnu Mohan Jha, chief airport officer of Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), has written to the civil aviation secretary. The letter says the foreign airlines had suggested the arrangement to Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL), which operates CSMIA.

The development comes after Indian carriers IndiGo, the Air India Group and Akasa Air agreed to move some of their services to the new airport.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) summer schedule begins on March 28, 2027. From that day, CSMIA will temporarily suspend slots for 14 international destinations. Airlines operating these services can move the flights to NMIA. The destinations are Bahrain, Dammam, Dhaka, Doha, Fujairah, Jakarta, Jeddah, Kathmandu, Kuwait City, Medina, Muscat, Ras Al Khaimah, Riyadh and Sharjah.