NEW DELHI: The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has been ranked the 11th busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic in 2025 by Airports Council International (ACI), an organisation of airport authorities from around the world. A total of 2,800 airports across 185 countries and territories were considered for the analysis.
Notably, the IGIA is the only airport in India to feature among the top 15 busiest airports globally, even though it has slipped two spots from its 2024 ranking.
For three consecutive years from 2022 to 2024, the IGIA featured among the ACI’s top 10 busiest airports. It was ranked ninth in 2022, slipped to 10th in 2023 and returned to ninth place in the 2024 rankings.
For its rankings, the ACI counts passengers arriving at and departing from an airport, with transit passengers counted only once.
The IGIA handled 7,81,48,081 passengers last year, marking a 0.42% increase over its 2024 passenger traffic. Passenger traffic has been consistently growing at the Delhi airport, which is operated by Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), a GMR-led consortium. Compared with 2019, the passenger traffic has grown by 14%.
The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in the US continues to rank first in the world, with 10,63,02,208 passengers. It has remained at the top for the last 27 years. The Dubai International Airport ranks second with 9,51,92,160 passengers, while Tokyo’s Haneda Airport ranks third with 9,16,79,814 passengers.
Apart from Tokyo, two airports in China rank above India. The Shanghai Pudong International Airport handled 8,49,94,548 passengers, while the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport handled 8,35,82,952 passengers.
The post-pandemic recovery, particularly driven by the boom in domestic passenger traffic, has helped Delhi rank among the world’s busiest airports.
Transshipment ops added for 2 destinations
Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Wednesday flagged off transshipment cargo operations at Delhi’s IGIA. Operations have been extended to two international destinations (London and Copenhagen) and four domestic destinations.
