Delhi airport passenger traffic reaches record 38.5 million in first half

Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport handled 38.5 million passengers in the first six months of the 2026-27 financial year, setting a fresh record for the gateway.

The throughput marks a 5 per cent increase compared with the 36.7 million travellers processed during the same period a year earlier, according to regulatory disclosures by operator GMR Airports. Air traffic movements grew faster still, climbing 6.9 per cent year-on-year to 233,331 flight movements across the April-to-September period.

The volume underlines the steady growth of Indian civil aviation and the broadening reach of the national capital as an international transit crossroads. The airport averaged 6.5 million travellers a month through the first half.

Domestic travel formed the bulk of footfall, accounting for 28.1 million journeys, while international traffic reached 10.4 million. In the preceding full financial year, the hub handled 78.7 million passengers, recovering briskly from maintenance periods that included resurfacing works on runway 10/28 and earlier geopolitical disruptions across regional airspace.

Terminal capacity across the airport

The hub currently operates with four runways and three passenger terminals, offering a combined design throughput of 106 million passengers a year.

Master plan targets 125 million passengers

To keep pace with rising business activity and tourism across the country, Delhi International Airport Ltd is preparing its next major phase of development. Under a 10-year master blueprint, management aims to raise total annual capacity to 125 million travellers.

Once completed, that upgraded envelope will accommodate up to 86 million domestic passengers and 39 million international travellers annually, reinforcing Delhi's position alongside major Asian aviation centres.

The capital hub remains the anchor asset in the portfolio of GMR Airports, which also manages facilities at Hyderabad, Mopa in Goa, and Nagpur, alongside greenfield works at Bhogapuram and international operations at Medan in Indonesia. Total passenger movement across GMR's entire airport network reached 58.2 million during the half-year window, up 0.5 per cent year-on-year.