IGI Airport was world’s 2nd busiest in March

Two years after the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport emerged as the world’s second busiest in March this year, according to a report by Official Airline Guide (OAG), a global travel data provider, indicating a slow recovery of travel and aviation sectors.

Delhi airport was ahead of Dubai, even as the top position remained with the Hartsfieldjackson International Airport in Atlanta in the United States. In February, Delhi was ranked third, behind Atlanta and Dubai.

OAG calculates the data based on the number of seats booked to and from the airport, in the domestic and international sectors. According to its report, the Delhi airport saw 3.61 million seats booked this March, beating Dubai airport (3.55 million seats) but behind Atlanta airport (4.42 million seats).

The fourth busiest airport during this period was London’s Heathrow (3.51 million seats), followed by the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (3.46 million seats).

In comparison, the Delhi airport was ranked 23 in April 2019, prior to the pandemic.

Airport officials say that despite the recovery, the passenger traffic is still around 70% of pre-covid levels

Data from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) also shows that international traffic at the Delhi airport increased from 722,431 passengers in February 2022 to 983,728 passengers in March 2022. This is expected to show an even bigger jump in April, following the resumption of all International flights from March 27, 2022.

In terms of domestic traffic, AAI data showed 3,066,121 passengers were handled at the Delhi airport in February, which rose to 4,092,583 passengers in March.

India opened its borders last month and allowed the entry of fully vaccinated international travellers, said Delhi International Airport Ltd CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar.