IGI world’s 24th best connected airport, rises one spot: Report

IGI Airport, which has recently been awarded as the first NetZero Carbon Emission Compliant airport in India, is the only airport in the country with four runways

Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) climbed to 24th position, improving from 25th spot in 2023, reflecting its growing importance as a global aviation hub, travel data provider Official Airline Guide (OAG)’s report stated on Tuesday.

Currently, the IGI airport is in the process of working out ways to increase its international capacity by 40-50% within a year. (Bloomberg)

OAG, the world’s leading data platform for the global travel industry, released a report on the market’s definitive ranking of the Top 50 most internationally connected airports in the world.

Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport slipped to 44th position, down from 34th last year, indicating a need for strategic improvements to regain its former position.

IGI Airport, which has recently been awarded as the first NetZero Carbon Emission Compliant airport in India, is the only airport in the country with four runways. Delhi Airport inaugurated the country’s first elevated cross taxiway (with an arterial road for passenger traffic, passing under it), in July 2023.

Currently, the airport is in the process of working out ways to increase its international capacity by 40-50% within a year. In its next master plan, the airport is working in collaboration with Air India and IndiGo which together have ordered over 1,400 aircraft.

Additionally, in line with the broader ambition of the government to make Delhi airport a hub and to increase passenger convenience, the airport is working on a plan to introduce automated people mover (APM) systems between Terminal 1 and Terminal 3.

IGI has a maximum traffic handling capacity of around 104 million passengers per annum, including nearly 22 million international passengers and 82-83 million domestic passengers. As per the government data, the airport handled 19.5 million international passengers and 54.2 million domestic passengers in FY24.

The OAG report stated that London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) remained the most internationally connected airport in the world this year and retained its first place. British Airways remained to be the dominant airline at London’s Heathrow operating 50% of its total flights.

Heathrow was followed by Kuala Lumpur (KUL) which was in the second position and was recognised as the most connected airport in the Asia Pacific. The report noted that the Top 20 Global Megahubs continues to see a slight shift towards Asia – highlighting the growing connectivity of Asian cities in the global network.

“Asia Pacific is home to three of the Top 5 Megahubs – Kuala Lumpur, Tokyo-Haneda, and Seoul – providing reassurance that these markets are back in business and pursuing growth,” the report stated.