IGI Airport aims to become a global hub in next 2 years

The national capital’s IGI Airport aims to become a major hub facility in the next two years on the back of rising international passenger traffic and upcoming facilities, said a senior official of Delhi International Airport Ltd. (DIAL).

According to DIAL CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, the airport is on its way to achieving passenger traffic and destination parameters meant for a hub airport.

Currently, DIAL operates and maintains the IGI Airport.

A hub airport synergises both the domestic and international operations in a manner that passengers can transit from one to the other in a seamless manner.

Presently, there are no international hub airports in the country. This has led to a substantial volume of passenger traffic from India to transit via the Middle East and South-east Asia to reach far-off destinations.

Speaking at an event here, Jaipuriar said that the benchmarks for an Indian hub airport were arrived at from a study that was conducted by a consultancy on hubs across the world.

As per the parameters to become a hub, IGIA needs to service 24 million international passenger traffic.

The airport, Jaipuriar said, has serviced about 21.6 million in FY25.

“We expect to go beyond 24 million international passengers in the next two years,” he said.

Besides, he cited that the airport caters to flights connecting 150 destinations, with over 70 being international airports.

Jaipuriar mentioned that the growth of India-based airlines in the international segment, coupled with the intake of widebody aircraft, is leading to the creation of a hub airport in Delhi.

“Right now, 50 per cent of total international passengers are coming from Indian carriers,” Jaipuriar said at an event held here on Friday.

Increasing connectivity

Further, he cited that the focus will now be on increasing connectivity to North America and Europe, as well as Asia Pacific.

“Meetings are on with airlines and airports in this region, and we have signed an MoU to ensure connectivity with Auckland Airport. And there is a lot of interest from their side,” he said.

“We are awaiting the right kind of aircraft for improving connectivity to the APAC region.”

Furthermore, he said that IGIA cannot be compared to mega aviation hubs like Dubai and Singapore, as these airports are 100 per cent dependent on international passengers.

“They don’t have any domestic passengers. However, IGIA is comparable to American airports,” he said.

Additionally, he said that facilities that were developed in Phase 3A of the airport’s expansion plan, such as the I-to-I (international to international) transfer area, have been tripled.

“That (expansion of I to I area) is helping us,” Jaipuriar said, pointing out that other facilities, such as early baggage storage, have also been developed.

In addition, he said that DIAL is conducting trials for a smooth transfer of cabin baggage from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1 for passengers arriving from international destinations and having a connecting flight from T1.

Published on April 11, 2025