Cathay Cargo, the freight division of Cathay Pacific (CX), has become the first international carrier to formally confirm it will relocate its Mumbai freighter service away from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM). The airline told The STAT Trade Times the move will take effect from August 3, shifting operations to the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMI), also known as NMIA, on a temporary basis while construction work continues at Mumbai’s main gateway.
The relocation follows months of tension between Mumbai’s airport operator and the global cargo industry over plans to suspend dedicated freighter operations at BOM. Cathay Cargo’s tri-weekly summer-season freighter flights to Mumbai will continue on their existing schedule, just from a different airport, and the airline says the shift is planned to last only until further notice. The announcement puts Cathay Cargo ahead of other major carriers, including Air France and Lufthansa Cargo, who are still finalizing their own transition plans.
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What Cathay Cargo Confirmed About Its Mumbai Freighter Move
A Cathay Cargo spokesperson told the outlet the airline’s Mumbai freighter service is planned to relocate to NMI, subject to operational requirements. The confirmation makes Cathay Cargo the first carrier on record to publicly commit to a firm date for the switch, even as MIAL, the operator of CSMIA, continues working through the logistics of the broader transition with other airlines.
Cathay Cargo’s move is framed as temporary rather than permanent, which matters for an airline that must weigh the operational cost of splitting ground handling, customs clearance and crew logistics across two airports located roughly 40 kilometers apart. The airline’s existing freighter frequency to Mumbai stays unchanged, meaning cargo customers should see continuity of capacity even as the physical airport changes.
Why CSMIA Needs to Pause Freighter Operations for Runway Work
CSMIA’s freighter suspension traces back to an infrastructure problem the airport has been managing for years. Apron “G,” the dedicated space used exclusively for freighter operations at CSMIA, has reached the end of its operational life and requires complete pavement reconstruction, while new taxiways for Runway 14/32 are being built to bring its capacity in line with the airport’s other runway. Because CSMIA operates on intersecting runways with limited land, there is no alternative apron available while passenger operations continue uninterrupted.
That combination of factors leaves dedicated freighter flights with nowhere to go at CSMIA during the works, which are expected to run from August 2026 through May 2027. MIAL first floated the suspension in April 2025, initially targeting a August 16, 2025 start date, before the timeline shifted following pushback from airlines and industry groups.
The IATA Dispute and CSMIA’s Earlier Reversal Over Freighter Slots
MIAL’s first attempt to force freighter operators out of CSMIA in 2025 collapsed under industry pressure. When Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL) issued a notice inviting cargo carriers to shift to NMIA by August 16, 2025, and asked operators to confirm their intent by May 5 of that year, the plan drew immediate criticism from the International Air Transport Association.
John Middleton, IATA’s Head of Worldwide Airport Slots, raised concerns that the shift amounted to a permanent withdrawal of carriers’ historic freighter slots from the next scheduling season onward, rather than a temporary operational accommodation. MIAL responded that the changes were carried out through a transparent, consultative, regulator-led process tied to the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India’s Fourth Control Period review. Facing sustained criticism, CSMIA ultimately reversed course. The airport told The STAT Trade Times that “the matter has been resolved amicably and the slots have been reinstated”.
That earlier reversal is the backdrop against which Cathay Cargo’s new, second-attempt relocation is unfolding. More than a year after the first failed push, CSMIA has now engaged with stakeholders and is executing a transition that carriers appear to be accepting, at least for the length of the construction window.
Washington Objects: The US-India Air Transport Agreement Fight
The freighter relocation has also become a diplomatic flashpoint. The US Department of Transportation wrote to India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation in March 2026, arguing that AAHL’s push to relocate freighters, including those operated by FedEx, could breach the US-India Air Transport Agreement. The DOT warned that compelling American carriers to move might prompt it to consider adverse measures under the treaty.
FedEx is currently the only American cargo airline operating out of Mumbai’s main airport, which gives its objection outsized weight in the dispute even though the broader relocation affects two dozen carriers. US officials reportedly view the relocation push as an attempt to populate NMIA’s traffic numbers rather than a purely operational necessity, a suspicion sharpened by the fact that Adani Airport Holdings controls both CSMIA and NMIA. Adani has pushed back on that framing, with a spokesperson describing the works as a phased and limited realignment of select international freighter operations rather than a wholesale, permanent shift.
The standoff lands at a sensitive moment for the Adani Group. Group chairman Gautam Adani is already the subject of a separate US Department of Justice probe, and the freighter dispute risks adding friction to US-India relations shortly after the two countries concluded a difficult trade negotiation.
Other Global Carriers Weighing Their Own Shift To NMIA
Cathay Cargo’s announcement arrives as several other international freight operators finalize their own relocation plans. According to Hindu Business Line, airlines have begun negotiating office space and ground-handling arrangements ahead of the broader move to NMIA. Air France, which operates two weekly freighter services between Paris and Mumbai, has indicated its cargo flights could shift as early as August 1, pending approvals, while Lufthansa Cargo says it remains in close coordination with authorities as operational details are worked out.
Other operators, including FedEx Express, Challenge Group, Atlas Air, Teleport, and AeroLogic, were already reported to be preparing freighter operations at NMIA by May 2026, ahead of the CSMIA suspension window.
NMIA itself is positioning to absorb this traffic. The airport is set to open to international passenger flights on July 15, with Air India Express launching the first international route, to Abu Dhabi, the same day. NMIA Chairman Captain BVJK Sharma has said cargo operations will also begin July 15, ramping toward nearly 18 weekly freighter flights as operations scale up.
NMIA’s cargo infrastructure was purpose-built for this kind of transition:
- A dedicated cargo terminal with a Phase 1 capacity of 800,000 tonnes
- Ten freighter stands alongside cold-chain infrastructure for pharmaceutical and perishable goods
- 29 hectares reserved exclusively for cargo, scalable to 2.5 million tonnes by 2032
- A single 3,700-meter runway capable of handling wide-body freighters up to Airbus A380 scale
Cathay’s Wider Network and Cost Pressures In 2026
The Mumbai freighter shift is a small operational adjustment set against a much larger financial picture at Cathay Pacific. The airline reported a 9.5% rise in annual net profit to HK$10.8 billion in 2026, supported by a 26.5% increase in passenger numbers and resilient cargo demand, marking its third consecutive year of profitability since the pandemic. That recovery has coincided with rising jet fuel costs, which climbed to roughly $197 a barrel and now account for close to 30% of Cathay’s operating costs, prompting the airline to raise fuel surcharges by 34%.
Those cost pressures help explain why an operationally disruptive, temporary airport switch in Mumbai is worth accepting for Cathay Cargo rather than cutting the route entirely. The airline has simultaneously been expanding elsewhere in its network, including a new nonstop route between Hong Kong and Changsha launched in November 2025, part of what Cathay executives have described as a deeper commitment to expanding within the Chinese mainland market while maintaining Hong Kong as its central connecting hub. Keeping the Mumbai freighter service running, even from a different airport, fits that same pattern of protecting network breadth while managing costs elsewhere.
What Comes Next for Mumbai’s Air Cargo Corridor
With Cathay Cargo’s move now confirmed, attention turns to whether Air France, Lufthansa Cargo and the remaining freighter operators formalize their own transitions before the August construction window begins.
Industry figures interviewed by The STAT Trade Times have flagged operational concerns that go beyond simply choosing a new airport, including whether a bonded cargo transfer system exists between CSMIA and NMIA, and whether shippers can complete the Authorised Dealer registration NMIA requires before clearing cargo there.
Freighters accounted for nearly 31% of CSMIA’s total cargo throughput in the most recent reporting period, with DHL, FedEx, Qatar Airways, and Cathay Pacific ranking as the top freighter operators. That concentration of volume among a handful of carriers means the coming weeks, as more airlines either follow Cathay Cargo’s lead or announce their own timelines, will determine how smoothly Mumbai’s cargo capacity holds up heading into the traditional peak shipping season.
The timing also overlaps with NMIA’s own commercial ramp-up, which adds pressure to get the transition right. The airport is simultaneously preparing for its first international passenger flights on July 15, the same week cargo operations are set to scale toward 18 weekly freighter movements, meaning ground handlers, customs staff, and air traffic controllers at the new facility will be managing two major operational launches at once.
Logistics executives have also pointed to a more basic problem: the road, rail, and workforce infrastructure around NMIA is still catching up to the airport’s own construction timeline, since most of the skilled cargo workforce built up over decades remains concentrated near CSMIA rather than in Navi Mumbai. How quickly that surrounding ecosystem matures, not just how many airlines confirm a move, will likely decide whether the shift proves seamless or simply relocates Mumbai’s cargo bottlenecks a few kilometers east.