Delhi airport sees rise in passenger traffic: CEO Pradeep Panicker
Delhi Airport is perhaps a “bright spot” with rising passenger traffic and international airlines’ focus on India, its CEO Pradeep Panicker said on Tuesday amid the ongoing West Asia crisis and geopolitical uncertainties impacting the aviation sector.
Airport operator DIAL is also working to enhance infrastructure, airside and terminal capacities, and connectivity in a ten-year master plan charted out till 2036.
Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), operated by Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), is the country’s largest airport and currently has an annual passenger handling capacity of 106 million, which is set to increase to 125 million during the latest master plan period.
“Delhi airport is perhaps a bright spot... more passengers travel out of Delhi, and international carriers are continuing to focus on India...” Panicker said.
More European carriers are also flying in here due to the West Asia crisis, and the airport has recorded an overall growth in domestic and international traffic.
He was responding to queries at a briefing related to the impact of the West Asia crisis and Pakistan airspace closure on the flight operations.
According to him, there has been more growth from Asia Pacific than West Asia and that there is a “more robust market”.
During the April-August period in 2026-27, traffic from the Asia Pacific region rose 11.4 per cent to 3.57 million compared to 3.21 million in the year-ago period, he said.
He also said traffic from the Middle East region declined 4.1 per cent to 2.37 million in the given period from 2.47 million in April-August of 2025-26.
The traffic from North America and Africa fell 26.2 per cent and 10.9 per cent, respectively, in April-August this fiscal year compared to the year-ago period. There was a marginal uptick of 0.9 per cent in traffic from Europe during the given period.
Overall, Delhi airport’s international traffic rose 0.8 per cent to 8.62 million in April-August of 2026-27 from 8.55 million a year ago.
In 2025-26, the overall traffic at the airport was around 78.7 million, and in the current fiscal, the numbers are likely to be around 82 million.
The airport has four runways, a cross taxiway and three terminals - T1, T2 and T3.
To a query related to a proposal to allow airport operators to own a stake in airlines, Panicker said, “We as GMR are not looking to invest in airlines”.
