MUMBAI, Nov. 13 -- The Shiv Sena (UBT) has backed chief minister Devendra Fadnavis's opposition to shifting international flights from the Mumbai airport to the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), alleging that the latter lacked the infrastructure. Controversy erupted after the Adani Group-led Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) instructed airlines to shift flights to 14 international destinations to NMIA due to the redevelopment of Terminal 1 at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA). After airlines opposed the move, Fadnavis said he had written to the Union civil aviation ministry, suggesting that the redevelopment of Terminal 1B be completed first, to accommodate flights from terminal 1A, which could then be rebuilt. This way, no flights would be disrupted, he reasoned. Supporting the plan, Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said international airlines were reluctant to move operations to the nearly year-old Navi Mumbai airport due to inadequate facilities there. He claimed several foreign carriers had raised objections to shifting their services and that the proposed relocation risked making Navi Mumbai an unwanted airport for international operators. Raut also demanded that the state government focus on expanding the Mumbai airport by taking possession of encroached airport land and rehabilitating slum-dwellers, instead of shifting international flights to Navi Mumbai....