Indira Gandhi International Airport
Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport has now become one of the busiest air transit points not only in India but also in the world. According to Business Standards, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said that between September 2024 and August 2025, 6.7 lakh passengers traveling between East Asia and Western countries transited through Delhi. This figure shows an increase of 34 percent compared to last year, which is a big achievement for India.
Biggest role of Air India and Indigo
The biggest contribution to this success was made by two Indian airlines, which include Air India and IndiGo. According to the report, Air India’s contribution to East-West transit traffic is 67 percent, while IndiGo’s contribution is 25 percent. That means, more than 90% of the total transit passengers passed through Delhi through these two airlines.
Growing air relations with Thailand
Delhi has strengthened its identity as India’s main gateway to Thailand. Now 120 weekly flights are running from Delhi to Bangkok, Phuket, Karabi and Don Mueang. This accounts for about 26 percent of India’s total flights to Thailand. DIAL said that the new flight to Karabi was started on October 26, which has made both tourism and business easier for the passengers.
Preparations for expansion in Southeast Asia
The Delhi airport network is expanding rapidly not only in Thailand but in the entire South East Asia. Air India is soon going to increase its weekly flights to Kuala Lumpur and Bali from seven to 10. Whereas Indigo will start daily flights to Hanoi from December 20 and Guangzhou (China) from November 10. The special thing is that this will be the first regular passenger flight between India and China after COVID-19.
Strong connections with Japan and Europe
If we look towards the east, Delhi Airport has also become India’s biggest connectivity point with Japan. From here there are 28 weekly flights to Tokyo’s Haneda and Narita airports, which accounts for 70 percent of the total India-Japan flights. In addition, Japan Airlines has announced the launch of a new daily service between New Delhi-Tokyo Narita from 18 January 2026.
On the other hand, Delhi’s relations with Europe and Britain are also getting stronger. According to DIAL, 38 percent of all flights between India and UK operate from Delhi. Air India will soon launch its fourth daily flight to London Heathrow, while IndiGo will operate its first long-haul flight between Delhi-Manchester from November 15, using Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft.
Future plans: Capacity will increase further
According to the report of Business Standards, DIAL CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar said that Delhi Airport has become the real ‘Gateway of East-West’ connecting India with the world. He said that whether it is a business trip to London or a holiday to Bangkok, Delhi has become the center of every direction.
Jaipuriar also said that DIAL plans to increase the airport’s annual passenger capacity from 105 million to 125 million by 2029-30, that too without changing the existing Terminal 2 (T2). This step will make Delhi Airport a major international hub not only of India but also of Asia.