Delhi’s Indira Gandhi airport is busiest in the country: Officials

THE DELHI AIRPORT HAS AN ANNUAL PASSENGER CAPACITY OF OVER 60 MILLION, INCLUDING TERMINAL-3 WHICH CAN HANDLE 34 MILLION PASSENGERS

NEW DELHI: The Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi handled a record 40.98 million passengers in 2014-15 — the highest by any airport in the country — helped by domestic airlines fighting over each other to offer attractive discounts on ticket fares, officials said.

The Mumbai airport, which used to be the busiest in the country, is now way behind as it handled around 35 million passengers in 2014-15. The exact figures were unavailable. Delhi airport handled almost 5 million more passengers in 2014-15 compared to 2012-13, when the figures dipped due to a fall in the domestic traffic.

“International traffic was never a problem for Delhi airport. But domestic passenger movement dipped in 2012-13. It was a cause for worry, but we have recovered from it. In 201415, Delhi airport handled 27.45 million (domestic) passengers,” said an airport official.

However, ever since 2012-13, traffic has grown. Airport officials attribute this to the introduction of new airlines and the price war between them. Operators also said they had expected the figure to cross 40 million.The Delhi airport has an annual passenger capacity of over 60 million, including Terminal-3 which can handle 34 million passengers.

It handles almost one lakh passengers every day. Aircraft movements have also increased with as many as 950 arrival/departures every day.