Delhi’s IGI Airport Now Twelfth Busiest Globally, As Indian Aviation Market Rises To Third Spot

The preliminary world airport traffic rankings for the year 2018, prepared by the Airport Council International (ACI), have seen New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) jump four ranks from last year to become the world’s twelfth busiest airport, reports The Economic Times.

In the latest rankings, it has overtaken major international air travel hubs such as Frankfurt, Dallas Fort Worth, Guangzhou and Istanbul’s Atatürk airports.

Moreover, the report shows that among the top 20 airports of the world, IGI has been the fastest growing in 2018, with the airport seeing 69 million domestic and international flyers in the year, up 10.2 per cent from the previous year.

Four airports which are just ahead of IGI in the rankings could have been overtaken in 2018 itself if the infrastructure expansion of the airport had not been unduly delayed, meaning that the airport could’ve already cracked the top 10.

Also, India is now the world’s third largest aviation market, and is still witnessing rapid growth.

“India became the world’s third-largest aviation market in terms of passenger throughput, behind the US and China, in 2018. India’s move towards a more liberalised aviation market and the nation’s strengthening economic fundamentals have helped it become one of the fastest-growing markets with its traffic growing rapidly in a relatively short time,” a statement from ACI said.