“There will be a short term impact. But in the medium to long term, we are very bullish on the prospects of the Indian economy as a whole and aviation,” GMR Airports chairman GBS Raju told The Times of India in an interview marking 20 years of the group’s Delhi airport concession.
Raju said passenger traffic to West Asia has been affected due to the conflict, but stressed that Delhi airport continues to handle about 2.2 lakh passengers daily — similar to levels seen before the crisis. “Traffic to the Middle East is impacted. But the majority of that was transfer traffic in nature and not origin-destination,” he said, adding that some foreign carriers have temporarily increased flights.
The comments come amid global aviation disruptions caused by the Iran war, which has impacted airspace availability, raised operating costs for airlines and altered flight paths across the region.
Despite the geopolitical uncertainty, GMR remains confident about expanding infrastructure at India’s busiest airport, citing strong macroeconomic fundamentals and low aviation penetration in the country.
“Today, we are a $3.9 trillion economy with close to $3,000 per capita income. Aviation is underpenetrated here compared to many other countries,” Raju said. He added that India’s aviation market would continue to expand as the economy grows towards the $5 trillion and $7 trillion milestones.
Delhi airport currently has the capacity to handle 10.5 crore passengers annually across its three terminals and four runways. In FY26, it handled nearly 7.9 crore passengers. According to Raju, the airport has enough capacity for the next five to six years.The airport is also looking to further optimise operations. Raju said the airside infrastructure can currently support 1,700 aircraft movements per day and could exceed 2,000 with technology upgrades and additional training for air traffic controllers in collaboration with the Airports Authority of India.
Among upcoming projects, Delhi airport plans to roll out an automated people mover system connecting terminals and city-side access points. The project, whose alignment and design have already been finalised, is expected to be completed within 30 months after bids are issued.
On competition from the upcoming Noida International Airport, set to begin operations next month, Raju said the impact on Delhi airport would be “minimal”.
“Aeronautical charges at the Delhi airport are competitive and lower vis-à-vis the tariff of the Noida airport,” he said, while also pointing to IGIA’s connectivity advantages and the Delhi government’s decision to reduce VAT on aviation turbine fuel to 7%.
Raju also outlined major cargo expansion plans at IGIA. The airport operator is developing a 1 crore sq ft cargo city across two sites over the next 20 months. One of the sites at Shahbad Mohammadpur, with direct airside access, has already signed up FedEx as a partner, while talks are underway with airlines interested in dedicated cargo infrastructure.
The Delhi airport, which began handling commercial flights in 1962 as Palam Airport, was modernised under a public-private partnership model after the UPA government handed over operations to private players in 2006 for a 30-year concession, extendable by another 30 years subject to conditions.
(With inputs from TOI)