Passenger traffic at Indian airports FY 2014-2023, by type

In India, there were over 400 airports and airstrips, while 136 were operational. Passenger traffic amounted to over 327 million at airports across India in financial year 2023, out of which close to 57 million were international passengers. However, there was a drop in traffic of both the domestic and international passengers in 2021. This was because of suspended passenger air travel due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic since the second half of March 2020.

India’s leading air carriers

IndiGo airline was the leading passenger carrier in India with around 55 percent of market share in financial year 2022. It was established back in 2006 as a low-cost airline based at IGI Airport, Delhi. Following IndiGo airline was SpiceJet, also a budget airline with a much less 13 percent market share. And just few years ago in February 2016, Jet Airways with a 21.2 percent passenger market share was the largest airline in India. However, due to tough competition, and financial issues, it ceased operations in April 2019, but was resumed flights in summer 2022.

Air freight

The total air freight tonnage handled in India was around 2.5 million metric tons in financial year 2021. It was a increase from the previous year recovering from the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. IGI Airport in Delhi was the busiest in terms of volume of freight handled. In financial year 2021, India saw the highest volume of air freight of 3.56 million metric tons. It was on a steady growth trend until the start of pandemic.