DELHI- The busiest airport in the country, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DEL) CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar announced on Friday (April 11, 2025) that Delhi Airport will achieve global gateway status within the next two years.
According to a recent study, the airport needs to handle 24 million international passengers annually to reach this milestone.
Photo- Wikimedia Commons & DIAL; Compiled by Aviation A2ZDelhi Airport Global Gateway
“The Delhi airport is on the cusp of becoming a global hub as the airport is nearing the target,” Jaipuriar said. “We have clocked close to about 22 million, and hopefully in the next year we should be at least surpassing that 24 million.”
The comprehensive study conducted by Arthur D’Little Consulting identified several benchmarks for global gateway status. Delhi Airport (DEL) has made significant progress toward these goals.
“International connecting traffic should be in the region of about 30 percent, and we currently have international connecting traffic at about 26 percent, so we are well advanced in that direction.”
Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO, DIAL
For long-haul routes, the benchmark calls for traffic to reach 33 percent, with Delhi (DEL) currently at approximately 30 percent.
Photo: GMR Delhi International Airport70+ Int’l Destinations
Delhi Airport (DEL) currently connects to 70 international destinations, including 9 in North America and 18 in Europe.
Weekly flights to these long-haul destinations total about 280, exceeding the 260 frequencies of a major Southeast Asian hub.
The airport aims to increase connections beyond North America to the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia and New Zealand.
“We have signed an MOU with Auckland Airport to ensure that connectivity with Auckland is established. There is a lot of interest on their side. We are only awaiting availability of the right kind of aircraft to improve our connectivity to the Asia Pacific region.”
Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO, DIAL
Delhi’s geographical position makes it attractive for international airlines serving major market routes.
“Some of the interesting flows are from Singapore (SIN) to Paris (CDG), Dubai (DXB) to Hong Kong (HKG), and Sri Lanka to Europe. Besides that, we have also seen it from Phuket to Europe,” Jaipuriar noted.
Photo: GMR Delhi International AirportPassenger Experience
The airport uses artificial intelligence to enhance operations and passenger flow.
“Our AI-based system gives us a predictive load on an hourly basis that helps us improve the manning at different counters,” Jaipuriar said. “It has improved our overall efficiency at various touch points by close to 20%. And that has helped us process more passengers in a given time.”
The DIAL CEO emphasized the importance of working with key stakeholders, particularly airlines and government authorities. The airport continues to adjust flight slots to create convenient “slot banks” that reduce connecting times for passengers.
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The post Delhi International Airport on Track to Become Global Gateway by 2027 appeared first on Aviation A2Z.
