NEW DELHI: The first half of the ongoing fiscal turns out to be the best ever six-month period for Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), both in terms of passenger and cargo movement. The airport clocked 3.85 crore passengers from April to September of 2026 marking a 6.2% growth over the previous year.
GMR Aero, which leads a consortium that operates Delhi airport, has submitted details on its traffic data in its regulatory filing before the Bombay Stock Exchange recently.
Elaborating on the operational performance in the first half of 2026-2027, the traffic update report states, “Delhi airport reported highest-ever H1 volumes across all core segments – total, domestic and international passenger traffic, Air Traffic Movements (arrivals and departures) and cargo throughput.”
Of the 3.85 crore passengers recorded in the last six months, 2.81 crore are domestic passengers while 1.04 crore are international passengers, it said. “The average traffic maintained every month in the first half was 65 lakh,” it said. The ATMs recorded were nearly 2,33,000 marking a 6.9% increase when compared with year-on-year data.
For the month of September alone, the airport recorded 60 lakh passengers, data revealed.
IGIA also sustained its reputation as India’s largest cargo handling airport by transporting 6.3 lakh metric tonnes in the specified period.
New routes launched and enhanced connectivity from Delhi airport are cited as the reasons for the record-breaking achievements. The airport’s position as India’s principal global aviation hub is strengthened through its connectivity with 160 destinations, it said.
The report also added that the most recent international route was from Delhi to Guangzhou by China Southern Airlines while British Airways increased its number of flights per week to 21 from 14.
Through a network of 70 airlines including six domestic carriers, the airport connects 70 international and 90 domestic routes.
In a statement issued recently, IGIA said, “Delhi's network increasingly brings India's metros, Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities into the global aviation system. Passengers from cities such as Jaipur, Lucknow, Patna, Ranchi, Indore, Bhubaneswar and Guwahati can use Delhi as a gateway to markets across Europe, North America, Southeast Asia, Australia, the Middle East and Central Asia.”
Transfer passengers
The airport handles approximately 50,000 transfer passengers every day, or nearly 15 lakh a month, highlighting its growing role as the connecting bridge between India's cities and the world.
Its domestic network has been strengthened with new connections to Bareilly, Daman, Ambikapur, Halwara (Ludhiana) and Kishangarh
