Top 10 Biggest Airports In India In 2023

People can travel to their destinations in record time thanks to advances in technology. Airports allow us to connect to cities all over the country and the world. There are some of India's largest airports, which are known for hosting large numbers of passengers each day and taking off and landing record numbers of aircraft. Many airports wow their passengers with showrooms, cafes, eateries, and other amenities such as duty-free shopping. The majority of these airports are integrated transportation hubs with multi-modal connectivity to their cities and have a large number of runways and terminals around the world.

1. Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi

Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) is one of India's most important airports, serving the amazing capital city of Delhi. It is also one of the busiest airports in India in terms of cargo and passenger traffic and is sometimes simply referred to as Delhi Airport. In the fiscal year 2020, the airport served 67.3 million passengers. According to the most recent data from a UK-based air consultancy organization, it will be the world's seventh busiest airport by 2023. With over 3.6 million seats, it is the world's second busiest airport by seating capacity and the largest airport in Asia by passenger flow, with over 37 million passengers in 2021. Delhi Airport has been named "the Best Airport in India" for the fourth time in a row.

2. Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai

The country's second busiest air transportation hub is Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. Every day, a large number of people use it to fly in, out, or as an intermediate stop or stopover. It has two terminals spread across 750 hectares (1,850 acres) of land and handles approximately 950 aircraft movements per day. In fiscal year 2020, Mumbai Airport handled 45.87 million passengers. In terms of passenger traffic, it was the 14th busiest airport in Asia and the 41st busiest airport in the world in 2019.  

3. Kempegowda International Airport, Bangalore

Kempegowda International Airport serves Bangalore, India's state capital. It is situated on 4,000 acres (1,600 hectares) approximately 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of the city in the Devanahalli neighborhood. The airport is owned and operated by Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), a public-private partnership. CleanMax Solar's Kempegowda International Airport became Karnataka's first solar-powered airport. Kempegowda International Airport served 32,361,666 passengers between April 2019 and March 2020. In fiscal year 2021-22, the airport handled approximately 16.2 million passengers and 411,550 tonnes (453,660 short tonnes) of cargo. 

4. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad

It has both a passenger and a goods terminal. It opened on March 23, 2008, near Shamshabad, about 24 kilometers (15 miles) south of Hyderabad, to replace Begumpet Airport, the city's only civilian airport. The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport is owned and operated by GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), a public-private partnership. It handled over 12 million people and over 140,000 tonnes (150,000 short tonnes) of goods between April 2021 and March 2022. 

5. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport is named after India's freedom fighter. The distance from the city center is approximately 15 kilometers (9.3 miles). Kolkata Airport, with an area of 1,641 acres (664 hectares), is the major air traffic hub in the country's east and one of West Bengal's two international airports. The airport handled approximately 11 million passengers in the fiscal year 2021-22, ranking it fifth in India in terms of passenger traffic behind airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. Kolkata Airport received a total of 11,036,108 passengers between April 2021 and March 2022.

6. Chennai International Airport, Chennai

Visitors from South and Southeast Asia use Chennai International Airport as a major entry point into the country. The airport is India's sixth busiest. It was also the 49th busiest airport in Asia in 2018, one of four major airports in India to make the top 50 list. The airport has a station on the Chennai Metro network that connects it to the city center. Travelers can eat and buy a variety of foods at the airport. In fiscal year 2021, the airport served approximately 9.5 million passengers. 

7. Sardar Vallabhai Patel

Flights from the air transit hub began in 1991, despite the fact that it has been in operation since 1937. Transit passengers can relax in Terminal 1's spacious Lounge or Terminal 2's Port Lounge. In addition to lounges, Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport has duty-free shops, restaurants, and a café. It handled approximately 5.67 million passengers in the fiscal year 2021-22, ranking it eighth in India in terms of passenger volume.

8. Cochin International Airport, Cochin

Cochin International Airport handled 61.8% of all air passenger traffic in Kerala by 2022. There are three passenger terminals at the airport, one of which is a Business Jet Terminal and India's first charter gateway. The airport is India's first of its kind, and it was built through a public-private partnership (PPP). The airport handled over 10.2 million passengers and 71,871 aircraft movements in fiscal year 2018-19. The airport has three passenger terminals and one goods terminal, with a total area of approximately 225,000 square meters (2,421,880 square feet). 

9. Pune Airport, Pune

With slightly more than 8 million passengers in Fiscal Year 2017, Pune Airport is currently India's ninth busiest. The Royal Air Force established it as an air base, and a portion of it still functions as one under the Indian Air Force. It has two runways, but only one is used for flights; the other serves as a taxiway for military aircraft movements. The runway length is being increased for larger aircraft as part of the renovation plan. The administrative offices will be relocated to a separate building, and a VIP lounge and other modern amenities will be developed inside the terminal as part of the same plan.

10. Dabolim Airport, Goa

The Dabolim Airport in Goa, located right next to the beach, is one of the most picturesque in the country. It was built by the Portuguese in 1955 and serves as both a civilian airport and an airbase for the Indian Navy. Its new terminal, which opened in 2013, is nearly at full capacity with 7.6 million passengers per year. In FI 2017, it handled over 50000 flights, including scheduled, chartered, and seasonal flights. International destinations with direct scheduled or seasonal flights to Goa Airport include Moscow, St. Petersburg, Manchester, Kiev, Birmingham, and Helsinki.