Navi Mumbai International Airport will begin handling twice-daily direct flights to Jeddah from December 15, 2026, with Akasa Air adding four daily flight movements between the airport and Saudi Arabia’s major gateway for travel to Makkah and Madinah, according to an official statement reported by Mid-Day.
The new services will connect Navi Mumbai with Jeddah in both directions and are intended to serve passengers from Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and neighbouring regions. Akasa Air will operate the route using its 197-seat Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, with bookings opened on major booking platforms.
The schedule effective December 15 lists flight QP 557 departing Navi Mumbai for Jeddah at 4.45 am and QP 558 leaving Jeddah for Navi Mumbai at 7.35 am. The second outbound service, QP 559, will depart Navi Mumbai at 5.25 pm. The corresponding return service, QP 560, will depart Jeddah at 5.25 am from December 16.
The twice-daily service in each direction will give travellers more flexibility when planning journeys between the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and Jeddah. The route is expected to support religious travel, particularly for passengers undertaking Umrah and Hajj, while also serving business and leisure demand between Maharashtra and Saudi Arabia.
Jeddah is a key international arrival point for pilgrims travelling onwards to Makkah and Madinah. The additional direct flights will provide passengers from Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra with another option for reaching Saudi Arabia without first travelling to another airport for an international connection.
The new service comes as Navi Mumbai International Airport is expected to take on a larger role in handling international traffic from the region. Foreign airlines operating from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport have recommended shifting selected international services to Navi Mumbai during the redevelopment of Terminal 1, according to sources cited in the Mid-Day report.
The proposed shift follows an agreement by Indian carriers IndiGo, the Air India group and Akasa Air to move some services to Navi Mumbai International Airport. From March 28, 2027, the start of the International Air Transport Association summer schedule, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport is expected to temporarily suspend slots for services to 14 international destinations.
The destinations identified in the report are Bahrain, Dammam, Dhaka, Doha, Fujairah, Jakarta, Jeddah, Kathmandu, Kuwait City, Madinah, Muscat, Ras Al Khaimah, Riyadh and Sharjah. Airlines operating those services may shift them to Navi Mumbai, subject to the arrangements described in the report.
The Jeddah flights therefore represent both a new passenger service and an early indication of how international aviation capacity could be distributed across the Mumbai region as Navi Mumbai International Airport expands its operations. The first Akasa Air services on the route are scheduled to begin on December 15, with the second return service commencing the following day.
