India’s leading airport infrastructure operator GMR Airports Ltd continued to demonstrate resilience in passenger traffic, serving 10.3 million passengers across its network in February 2026, even amid temporary headwinds in the aviation sector.
The passenger traffic registered a 0.3% year-on-year growth, underscoring steady travel demand across domestic and international routes. Domestic passenger movement remained the primary driver, with 7.7 million travellers, marking a 0.5% year-on-year increase, while international traffic stood at 2.5 million passengers, witnessing a marginal 0.1% decline.
Importantly, passenger throughput across GMR-operated airports has remained consistently above 10 million passengers every month since October 2025, signalling sustained demand recovery and operational stability.
Record Passenger Milestone in FY26
During the year-to-date period of FY2025-26, GMR Airports handled over 111 million passengers, marking the highest-ever passenger traffic recorded by the company in a financial year-to-date period.
Domestic passenger traffic during the period reached 83 million passengers, reflecting a 0.6% year-on-year growth, while international traffic touched 27 million passengers, registering a stronger 2.7% growth.
Operational Records Across Key Airports
Operational performance across the group’s airports also set several milestones. At Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, February saw multiple records, including highest-ever international passenger traffic, record single-day passenger traffic of 2.6 lakh passengers on 8 February 2026, highest-ever aircraft movements, particularly in domestic operations and cargo volumes crossing the 1 million metric tonne mark for the third time
Meanwhile, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad reported record passenger traffic, aircraft movements and cargo volumes, reflecting strong growth momentum.
Similarly, Goa airport has also recorded its highest-ever passenger traffic and aircraft movements.
Delhi Airport’s Global Connectivity Expands
Delhi Airport further strengthened its global position by expanding connectivity to 159 destinations worldwide, including 84 domestic and 75 international destinations.
According to a report by OAG, Delhi Airport ranked as the 6th busiest airport globally and the 5th busiest in the Asia-Pacific region in February 2026, based on total airline seat capacity deployed.
Hyderabad Airport Driving Regional Economic Growth
Hyderabad Airport has also emerged as a significant economic catalyst for the state. A study by National Council of Applied Economic Research for 2024–25 estimates that the airport contributes approximately ₹68,000 crore in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the economy of Telangana.
This accounts for nearly 4.6% of the state’s economy and supports around 3.5 lakh jobs, both directly and indirectly.
Bhogapuram Greenfield Airport Nears Completion
Looking ahead, GMR is also progressing with the development of the greenfield Bhogapuram International Airport, being built by GMR Visakhapatnam International Airport Limited.
The airport, designed with a Phase-1 capacity of 6 million passengers per annum, is expected to be completed by 30 June 2026 and is projected to handle around 4.5 million passengers annually in its initial years.