Delhi Airport set for 'global hub' tag in 2 yrs: CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar

To become a global hub, Delhi airport should have an international traffic of about 24 million

Delhi Airport is expected to meet global hub criteria in the next two years, driven by a steady rise in international passenger traffic and a significant improvement in connecting flights, said Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, chief executive officer (CEO), Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) on Friday. A study by a global consultancy recently identified key benchmarks Delhi Airport must meet to qualify as an international hub, and Delhi is closing in on the targets.

 

Speaking at a press conference, Jaipuriar said, “The consultancy conducted (a study on) hubs across the world and came out with a benchmark for Indian hubs. To become a global hub, it said, the Delhi Airport should have international traffic of around 24 million. When the study was conducted, our international traffic was about 18 million. Last year, 2024-25, we clocked about 21.6 million. We are expecting that in the next one to two years, we will go beyond 24 million international passengers per year.”

 

He further said that international connecting traffic — a key indicator of hub strength — has also shown significant progress. “The study also found that the international connecting traffic — domestic to international (D-I), international to international (I-I), and international to domestic (I-D) — should be 7 million out of the aforementioned 24 million, which would be 33 per cent of the total international traffic. The Delhi Airport currently handles 6 million international connecting traffic. So, this is a major improvement.”

 

“We are heading in the right direction. As the connectivity is increasing, and as wide-body planes of Indian carriers are also coming in, we expect that we will reach these benchmarks in the next 1.5-2 years,” he said, adding that the airport has taken steps to enhance inter-terminal connectivity to support the growing volume of transfers between domestic and international flights. “Even today, we are ready for inter-terminal connectivity. While we are reopening terminal-1 (on April 15), we are also deploying an additional number of buses to ensure that the frequency of buses is less than 10 minutes.”

 

Improving the experience of I-D transfer passengers is a key focus. “Currently, the direct transfer of bags for D-I and D-D passengers is seamless. We have worked out a trial of seamless baggage transfer for I-D passengers, which has been approved. Once that is successful, the I-D passenger can come out of the terminal and then go take his or her domestic flight at another terminal. So, we are working on ensuring that between the two terminals (Terminal 1 and Terminal 3), the connecting time is not more than 120 minutes, and that is something which we have also committed to the Ministry of Civil Aviation,” he said.

 

He acknowledged that there were still some operational challenges, especially in the case of D-I transfer passengers which leads to them having to undergo security checks twice. He explained that differing security norms add complexity to the process.

 

“The security protocols for domestic and international passengers are slightly different. In domestic flights, kirpan (small, curved sword or knife worn by Sikhs as a symbol of faith) is allowed to be carried in baggage. But kirpan is not allowed on international flights. So, while taking an international flight from Delhi, you need to go through another security check which is in line with the international protocol. This is a puzzle that we are trying to solve,” he added.