Navi Mumbai, Oct 6: Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) is strengthening the passenger experience with expanded mobility, transit hospitality and airline support as more flights prepare to shift from capacity-constrained Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai.

The focus of NMIA, one of India’s largest greenfield airports and operated by Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL), on customer comfort also extends to a futuristic digital art programme and experience zone designed to create a more soothing and engaging environment for passengers.

The measures come ahead of the winter flying schedule, which runs from October 25, 2026, to March 27, 2027.

Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation will start electric e-Shivai services from October 7 to Dadar, Borivali and Pune, with fares of Rs 170, Rs 210 and Rs 450, respectively. Children below 12 years of age and women travelling with a National Common Mobility Card will be eligible for half-fare.

‘Chalo’ operates 21 daily services to Marol, Bandra, Dadar and Colaba, while Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport runs seven dedicated airport routes.

Bharat Taxi will begin operations with up to 40 vehicles from October 10. Cityflo, Aarya and Chalo will also operate a complimentary hourly shuttle between NMIA and CSMIA.

The airport’s passenger transport network includes 3,787 app-based taxis, 184 car rentals, 171 autorickshaws and 547 buses.

NMIA is also connected to Panvel, Targhar and Bamandongri suburban railway stations, as well as major road corridors including Atal Setu and the Sion-Panvel Highway.

Inside Terminal 1, AAHL will open an 80-room Swirl Transit Hotel in mid-October, offering four-hour and overnight stays, showers, workstations, Wi-Fi and 24-hour dining.

A 21-room Swirl property is also planned at Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi International Airport (LGBIA) in Guwahati.

TajSATS’ flight kitchen at NMIA serves more than 40 departing flights a day, with capacity for 7,500 meals daily and expansion to 15,000 as demand rises.

It serves domestic and international carriers, provides local meal uplift for international airlines, and adds to the culinary offering for passengers. TajSATS, which has more than four decades of aviation catering experience, also operates the flight kitchen at CSMIA.

Mumbai, Oct 6: Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) on Tuesday said that its dedicated inflight catering facility — operated by aviation catering company TajSATS — is prepared to support growing airline operations ahead of the Winter 2026-27 schedule, which runs from October 25 to March 27, 2027.

Located within the airport precinct, the flight kitchen currently serves more than 40 departing flights daily and has the capacity to produce up to 7,500 meals a day.

Moreover, the facility can be expanded to produce 15,000 meals daily as airline movements and passenger traffic increase.

“As NMIA expands its airline network, it is important that our supporting infrastructure grows with it,” said Subhash Murikenchery, Chief Airport Officer, Navi Mumbai International Airport.

“The TajSATS flight kitchen gives airlines the flexibility to meet rising demand and enhances the culinary experience for passengers,” he added.

The facility features production infrastructure, refrigeration systems and operational processes designed to respond to changes in airline schedules and demand.

Its location within the airport precinct is intended to facilitate meal delivery to departing aircraft.

NMIA said the facility provides local meal-uplift capabilities for international carriers operating to and from India, offering airlines an additional catering option closer to their point of departure.

“Approximately 40 per cent of international carriers operating from India rely on back catering from their own flight kitchens. NMIA’s inflight catering infrastructure has been developed to support this requirement, alongside the catering needs of domestic carriers,” according to the airport.

The catering infrastructure at NMIA has been developed to support those requirements alongside the needs of domestic carriers.

In addition, the facility offers catering services for both domestic and international airlines and can accommodate a range of dietary requirements, including special meals, allergen-sensitive menus and halal meals.

NMIA said the kitchen complies with food safety and quality standards including Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), ISO 22000 and regulations of India’s Food Safety and Standards Authority.

TajSATS — which has operated in the aviation catering sector for more than four decades — also runs the flight kitchen at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.

The airport said the facility is already operational and designed to scale in line with future growth in airline connectivity and passenger volumes.

Mumbai, Oct 6: The Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Tuesday launched an attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over the implementation of the Special Information Revision (SIR) process.

The Thackeray camp in the party’s mouthpiece, ‘Samaana’, defended the protest rally held on Sunday in Mumbai by the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and allied democratic groups. Its defence was triggered by sharp criticism from senior BJP leaders. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis dismissed the opposition rally as a desperate attempt to find political ground, while state Minister Ashish Shelar termed the protest “cheap politics” and its demands “howling”.

Strongly condemning these remarks, the Thackeray camp called the BJP’s stance an insult to the public, accusing the party of arrogance and relying on a “corrupt Election Commission” to stay in power. The mouthpiece alleged that across India, nearly 13 crore voters, including over two crore in Maharashtra alone, were arbitrarily stripped of their voting rights without prior notice or a fair hearing.

“This is the arrogance of power, and the BJP is enjoying this power by empowering thieves like Gyanesh Kumar. Lakhs of people took to the streets in Mumbai holding the Tricolour. Calling their protest “whining” is an insult to the Tricolour itself. A man like PM Modi pretends to cry every day; when one person cries like that, it is whining. But when 5 to 10 lakh people cry together out of anguish, it creates an upheaval powerful enough to overthrow tyrannical rule. Out of that ‘whining’, the wild fires of rebellion ignite,” warned the editorial.

Highlighting recent legal and administrative criticism of the SIR process, the editorial cited the observation by Supreme Court Justice Ujjal Bhuyan. Justice Bhuyan observed that any arbitrary procedure depriving citizens of their right to vote violates the constitutional framework, stating that stripping a citizen’s right to vote is akin to “separating the soul from the body”. He emphasised that names of living voters cannot be deleted without due process and advance notice.

The editorial also referenced former Union Home Secretary and ex-BJP Minister R.K. Singh, who publicly declared the nationwide SIR drive unlawful. Singh noted that removing voters without proper inquiry or hearings directly violates Section 22 of the Representation of the People Act. “If an experienced administrative officer and a Supreme Court Judge both call this process arbitrary and illegal, will the BJP call their observations ‘howling’ as well?” the editorial questioned.

“So Fadnavis and company should publicly announce whether what such a capable former official says about ‘SIR’ is also ‘howling,’ it said.

The editorial reiterated the core demands of the protesters who marched through the streets of Mumbai, the immediate revocation of the SIR process, the scrapping of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), and a return to the ballot paper.

Taking a sharp personal jab at BJP leaders, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena concluded with a satirical note, suggesting that “given the rhetoric from leaders like Fadnavis and Shelar, playwrights influenced by the RSS should write a new drama titled ‘Puppies of the Jackal’.”

Warning the ruling government against brushing aside public anger, the editorial said that “when millions of citizens unite against injustice with the national flag in hand, it sparks a rebellion capable of dethroning authoritarian regimes”.