Mumbai Airport’s Terminal 1A will be demolished soon

Terminal 1A of Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), closed since 2016, will soon be demolished, along with a defunct chiller plant and a temporary shed in the complex, officials told a newspaper. Officials said the cleared area would be used for airport expansion projects.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) – the planning authority for the airport – granted the No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the demolition of Terminal 1A on September 24, 2025, officials told Hindustan Times.

Terminal 1A, built in 1992, was once considered a modern facility and was the first terminal in India to feature an aerobridge. It primarily handled the domestic flights of the former Indian Airlines, which later merged with Air India. Despite limited space for vehicular movement and parking, the terminal had VVIP rooms which used to hold important political meetings, attended by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A former Air India employee recalled that the terminal was “state-of-the-art for its time” and was frequently used by dignitaries. “In 2014, when Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat and launched his election campaign in Mumbai, he was given a grand welcome at Terminal 1A,” the person told HT.

The terminal also served as a strategic hub during critical moments such as the 2006 Mumbai train blasts and the 26/11 terrorist attacks, when its meeting rooms were used to coordinate emergency responses.

Officials said the structure has deteriorated over time, with cracks visible in many areas.

CSMIA has invited expression of interest for the renovation of Terminal 1. However, demolition of that terminal will only occur once the next phase of Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA) is completed – expected between 2029 and 2030 – to avoid disruption to air traffic and airport capacity.