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Busiest airports in India by annual passenger traffic: Airports in India have emerged as significant centres for domestic and international travel, accommodating a total passenger traffic of 340.77 million from April 2024 to January 2025. It marked a 9.2% increase in overall traffic, as reported by the Airport Authority of India in their Air Traffic Report for January 2025.
Looking ahead, the passenger traffic is anticipated to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8-9% from FY25 to FY27, according to data from the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF).
In a notable mention, Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) in Delhi, known as Delhi Airport (DEL), has consistently been the busiest airport in India for both passenger and cargo traffic since 2009.
Remarkably, it has also gained recognition as one of the world’s eight busiest airports by seating capacity as of February 2025, according to OAG. Boasting about 3,613,762 available seats, it has achieved the highest capacity growth, reflecting a 3.4% increase to 3.6 million seats, which has led it to move up by one rank from January 2025 and two from February 2024.
Furthermore, it has also ranked as the tenth-busiest airport globally in terms of passenger traffic, based on the Airports Council International World rankings for 2023-2034. Following IGI is Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, which offers flights to the world’s six inhabited continents and Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport.
Early this year, Bengaluru’s Kempegowda notably recorded a total of 40.73 million passengers, elevating it to the category of a ‘large airport’ globally, as per the Airport Council International (ACI) classification, connecting the passengers to 75 domestic and 30 international destinations, and adding 11 domestic and four international routes during the year.
| Rank | Airport Name | Location | Annual Passenger Traffic (2023-24) | Change (%) |
| 1 | Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) | New Delhi | 73,673,708 | 0.128 |
| 2 | Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM) | Mumbai, Maharashtra | 52,820,754 | 0.202 |
| 3 | Kempegowda International Airport (BLR) | Bengaluru, Karnataka | 37,528,533 | 0.176 |
| 4 | Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (HYD) | Hyderabad, Telangana | 25,042,282 | 0.193 |
| 5 | Chennai International Airport (MAA) | Chennai, Tamil Nadu | 21,207,262 | 0.142 |
| 6 | Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport (CCU) | Kolkata, West Bengal | 19,784,417 | 0.113 |
| 7 | Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (AMD) | Ahmedabad, Gujarat | 11,696,227 | 0.154 |
| 8 | Cochin International Airport (COK) | Kochi, Kerala | 10,365,655 | 0.176 |
| 9 | Pune Airport (PNQ) | Pune, Maharashtra | 9,525,484 | 0.19 |
| 10 | Dabolim Airport (GOI) | Dabolim, Goa | 6,872,411 | -17.80% |
Source: Forbes
