The Airports Authority of India (AAI) was created on 1st April 1995 by an act by the Indian parliament merging the National Airports Authority and the International Airports Authority of India. There are a total of 162 airports in the country which include 34 International airports and 128 Domestic airports. Among the international airports in India, there are 31 international and 10 limited international airports. India’s first commercial civil aviation flight took off across the Yamuna River from Allahabad to Naini in the year 1911.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is responsible for maintaining, controlling, and managing the civil aviation infrastructure of India both on the ground and in air space. As per the civil aviation data for 2020, India is the third-largest in terms of the size of aviation market in the country. Some important airlines in India are Air India, IndiGo, Go First, Spicejet, Vistara, AirAsia, etc.
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Here we have a list of international airports in India recognized by the Airports Authority of India (AAI):
How many international airport in India? There are 34 operational international airports in India as of 2023 (total international airport in India).
| International Airports in India | |||
| S. No. | Airports | City | State |
| 1. | Rajiv Gandhi International Airport | Hyderabad | Telangana |
| 2. | Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport | Amritsar | Punjab |
| 3. | Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport | Guwahati | Assam |
| 4. | Biju Patnaik International Airport | Bhubaneswar | Odisha |
| 5. | Gaya Airport | Gaya | Bihar |
| 6. | Indira Gandhi International Airport | New Delhi | Delhi |
| 7. | Veer Savarkar International Airport | Port Blair | Andaman and Nicobar Islands |
| 8. | Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport | Ahmedabad | Gujarat |
| 9. | Kempegowda International Airport | Bengaluru | Karnataka |
| 10. | Mangalore International Airport | Mangalore | Karnataka |
| 11. | Cochin International Airport | Kochi | Kerala |
| 12. | Calicut International Airport | Kozhikode | Kerala |
| 13. | Trivandrum International Airport | Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala |
| 14. | Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport | Mumbai | Maharashtra |
| 15. | Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport | Nagpur | Maharashtra |
| 16. | Jaipur International Airport | Jaipur | Rajasthan |
| 17. | Chennai International Airport | Chennai | Tamil Nadu |
| 18. | Tiruchirappalli International Airport | Tiruchirappalli | Tamil Nadu |
| 19. | Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport | Lucknow | Uttar Pradesh |
| 20. | Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport | Varanasi | Uttar Pradesh |
| 21. | Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport | Kolkata | West Bengal |
| 22. | Kannur International Airport | Kannur | Kerala |
| 23. | Surat Airport | Surat | Gujarat |
| 24. | Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport | Indore | Madhya Pradesh |
| 25. | Dabolim Airport | Dabolim | Goa |
| 26. | Coimbatore International Airport | Coimbatore | Tamil Nadu |
| 27. | Sheikh ul-Aalam International Airport | Srinagar | Jammu and Kashmir |
| 28. | Imphal International Airport | Imphal | Manipur |
| 29. | Madurai Airport | Madurai | Tamil Nadu |
| 30. | Bagdogra International Airport | Siliguri | West Bengal |
| 31. | Chandigarh International Airport | Chandigarh | Chandigarh |
| 32. | Nashik Airport | Nashik | Maharashtra |
| 33. | Vadodara Airport | Vadodara | Gujarat |
| 34. | Kushinagar Airport | Kushinagar | Uttar Pradesh |
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International airports in India map
1. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (HYD)
Rajiv Gandhi International Airport is an international airport located in Shamshabad, about 24 kilometers south of Hyderabad, the capital of the Indian state of Telangana. It is named after the former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi.
This international airport of India has also ranked in AirHelp’s list of top 10 airports in the world. By passenger traffic, it is the fourth busiest airport in India. It is India’s first greenfield airport built under a public-private partnership model.
2. Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport (ATQ)
Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport is one of the international airports in India with an area of approximately 40175 sqm. in Amritsar, Punjab. It is located at about 11 kilometers from the city center. It is named after Guru Ram Das Ji, the fourth Sikh Guru and the founder of Amritsar city.
The airport also serves neighboring states, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Through Amritsar Airport you can not only visit the Golden Temple but also go to Lahore (Pakistan) through the Attari- Wagah border. The airport has about 4 million annual passenger capacity.
3. Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (GAU)
Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport is one of the international airports in India serving Guwahati. Guwahati Airport in North-East India in Assam, India is also the primary airport of North-East India.
It is located at Borjhar and is the 12th busiest airport in India. It is named after a freedom fighter and the first Chief Minister of Assam after India’s independence, Gopinath Bordoloi. The airport also serves as an Indian Air Force base.
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4. Biju Patnaik International Airport (BBI)
Biju Patnaik Airport is an international airport serving the capital city of Odisha, Bhubaneswar. Bhubaneswar International Airport is situated around 6 kilometers from the city center.
It is named after the former chief minister of Odisha, Biju Patnaik who was a famed aviator and freedom fighter. It is the 17th busiest airport in India and the 11th busiest among the international airports maintained by the Airports Authority of India.
5. Gaya Airport (GAY)
Gaya Airport is an international airport serving Gaya, a place in the state of Bihar, India. It is located about 12 km southwest of Gaya spread over an area of 954 acres.
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6. Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL)
Indira Gandhi International Airport is the main international airport serving the capital of India, and the National Capital Region (NCR), Delhi. The airport is situated in Palam, Delhi, around 6 km from New Delhi city center spread over an area of 5,106 acres. It is one of the most popular international airports in India named after the former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi (1917–1984).
In terms of cargo traffic, it is the busiest airport in the country. According to the latest rankings issued by the UK-based air consultancy firm, OAG, as of 2022, it is the seventh busiest airport in the world. It is the busiest airport in Asia by passenger traffic. Before the Airports Authority of India, the airport was operated by the Indian Air Force.
7. Veer Savarkar International Airport (IXZ)
Veer Savarkar International Airport is an airport located around 2 km south of Port Blair. It is the primary airport serving the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Previously, it was known as Port Blair Airport, and was renamed in 2002 after Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, an Indian freedom fighter. It also operates as a civil enclave, it shares airside facilities with INS Utkrosh of the Indian Navy. All air traffic operations over Port Blair are undertaken by the Indian Navy except for the civilian terminals operated by the Airports Authority of India.
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PM Modi inaugurated the new terminal building of Port Blair airport in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The new building is supposed to boost the tourism industry on the Islands.
8. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (AMD)
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport is an international airport serving the two cities of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar in the state of Gujarat, India. Ahmedabad airport is named after Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who was the 1st Deputy Prime Minister of India.
This one in the list of international airports in India is the busiest and largest airport in the state of Gujarat. It is also the 7th busiest airport in India.
9. Kempegowda International Airport (BLR)
Kempegowda International Airport is an international airport serving the capital of Karnataka, Bangalore. The Bangalore International Airport is located about 30 km north of the city center and is spread over 4,000 acres. It is owned and operated by Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL).
The airport is named after Kempe Gowda I, the founder of Bangalore. The Kempegowda International Airport became Karnataka’s first fully solar-powered airport.
In December 2022, the second terminal of this airport was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. All international operations were moved to the new terminal in September 2023.
10. Mangalore International Airport (IXE)
Mangalore International Airport also known as Mangaluru International Airport is an international airport serving the coastal city of Mangalore, India. Mangalore International Airport is the second busiest airport in the Indian state of Karnataka.
The airport is near Bajpe, around 13 km northeast of Mangalore city center. When the airport opened on 25 December 1951, it was named Bajpe Aerodrome, by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who arrived on a Douglas DC-3 aircraft.
11. Cochin International Airport (COK)
Cochin International Airport is an international airport operating in the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is located about 25 km northeast of the city center. It is the first airport of its kind to be developed under a public-private partnership (PPP) model in India that was funded by nearly 10,000 non-resident Indians from 32 countries. It is the busiest and largest airport in the state of Kerala. It is also the 4th biggest airport in South India.
12. Calicut International Airport (CCJ)
Calicut International Airport aka Kozhikode International Airport or Karipur Airport, is one of the international airports in India serving the city of Kozhikode, Kerala. This airport serves the Malabar region – Malappuram, Wayanad, and Palakkad. The airport is an operating base for Air India Express and also operates Hajj Pilgrimage services to Medina and Jeddah from Kerala.
13. Trivandrum International Airport (TRV)
Thiruvananthapuram International Airport serves Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. It is the first airport in the state of Kerala established in 1932. Among the list of international airports in India, it is the fifth, officially declared in 1991.
In terms of international traffic, Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is the eighth busiest airport in India and the 15th overall in India as declared in August 2023.
14. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (BOM)
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport serves the state of Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). In terms of total and international passenger traffic, it is the second busiest airport in India.
This airport is operated by Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), a Joint Venture between Adani Enterprises, and the Airports Authority of India. The airport is named after a 17th-century Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire, Shivaji (1630–1680).
15. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport (NAG)
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport is one of the international airports in India serving the Indian city of Nagpur in Maharashtra. The airport covers an area of 1,355 acres and was named after B. R. Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution of India and who was also one of the founding fathers of the Republic of India. The airport caters to two international airlines. The airport is also home to Nagpur Air Force Station of the Indian Air Force.
16. Jaipur International Airport (JAI)
Jaipur International Airport serves the pink city, Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. It is located 13 km from Jaipur. It is the 13th busiest airport in India in day-to-day scheduled flight operations.
17. Chennai International Airport (MAA)
Chennai International Airport is one of the international airports in India serving the city of Chennai. The city is the capital of Tamil Nadu, India. It is located around 20 km southwest of the city center. The airport is the fifth busiest airport in India and third by international traffic.
18. Tiruchirappalli International Airport (TRZ)
Tiruchirappalli International Airport is an international airport serving the city of Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu. The airport is spread over an area of 702.02 acres about 5 km south of the city center. It is the 31st busiest airport in India for passengers handled as of 2022 and the 11th busiest for total international aircraft movement. The airport is managed by the Airports Authority of India.
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19. Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport (LKO)
Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport is an international airport serving the Indian city of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. It was earlier known as ”Amausi Airport”. The name of the airport was changed to Chaudhary Charan Singh who was the fifth Prime Minister of India.
It is owned and managed by Lucknow International Airport Limited (LIAL), led by Adani Group. In terms of passenger traffic in India, this airport is the 11th busiest airport.
20. Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport (VNS)
Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport is one of the international airports in India that serves the holy city of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located 26 km northwest of Varanasi. The Varanasi Airport was officially renamed after Lal Bahadur Shastri who was the 2nd Prime Minister of India.
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21. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport (CCU)
Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport serves Kolkata and the Kolkata Metropolitan Region. It is the primary airport for eastern and northeastern India. It is located around 15 kilometers from the city center. The airport is locally called Kolkata Airport and Dum Dum Airport.
It was renamed in 1995 after Subhas Chandra Bose who was one of the most recognized leaders of the Indian independence movement, from Bengal. Kolkata Airport is one of the oldest airports in India opened in 1924. The Kolkata airport is the sixth-busiest airport in India in terms of passenger traffic.
22. Kannur International Airport (CNN)
Kannur International Airport is an international airport in the list of international airports in India serving the city of Kannur and the North Malabar region of Kerala, India. It is owned and operated by Kannur International Airport Limited (KIAL).
23. Surat Airport (STV)
Surat Airport serves the city of Surat in Southern Gujarat. It has a total area of 770 acres and is located in Magdalla. It is the second busiest airport in Gujarat after Ahmedabad, in terms of aircraft movements and also passenger traffic. It was awarded international status and was approved by the cabinet on 15 December 2023.
24. Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport (IDR)
Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport is an international airport operating in the city of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the busiest airport in Central India located 8 km west of Indore. Managed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the airport is named after Maharani Ahilya Bai Holkar of Indore, who belonged to the Holkar dynasty of the Maratha Empire. This international airport of India has 24*7 with night landing facilities.
25. Dabolim Airport (GOI)
Dabolim Airport is one of the popular international airports in India serving the state of Goa, India. It is the primary airport of the state of Goa operated by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The airport is located in Dabolim, 4 km from the nearest city of Vasco da Gama in the South Goa district.
26. Coimbatore International Airport (CJB)
Coimbatore International Airport is an international airport in the list of International airports in India which serves as the primary airport in the industrial cities of Coimbatore, Erode, and Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu, India. It is the 17th-busiest for total aircraft movement. the 18th-busiest airport in India for passengers handled, and the 15th-busiest for cargo handled.
27. Sheikh ul-Alam International Airport (SXR)
Srinagar International Airport also called as Budgam Airbase is an international airport that serves the city of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. It is handled by the Indian Air Force with the Airports Authority of India. It was designated as an international airport in 2005. The airport was also known as Sheikh ul-Alam Airport after a Kashmiri Sufi saint, Sheikh ul-Alam.
28. Imphal International Airport (IMF)
Imphal Airport was renamed as Bir Tikendrajit International Airport from Tulihal International Airport. It is an international airport serving Imphal, the capital of Manipur, India, located 7 km south of the city center. After Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati and Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport in Agartala, it is the second-largest and the third-busiest airport in North-East India.
29. Madurai Airport (IXM)
In the list of international airports in India, Madurai International Airport is an international airport serving the city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is the 36th busiest airport in India in terms of passengers handled and aircraft movement. The airport was established back in 1957.
30. Bagdogra International Airport (IXB)
Bagdogra Airport is a customs airport that serves the city of Siliguri in West Bengal, India. It is located in Bagdogra, 12 km from the city center. It is the gateway to the hill stations of Gangtok, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong, Mirik, and other parts of the North Bengal region. Bagdogra International Airport is the second busiest airport in West Bengal.
31. Chandigarh International Airport (IXC)
Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport or Chandigarh Airport is a customs airport located in Jhiurheri, Punjab. It shares space with the Indian Air Force. The airport is named after the freedom fighter Bhagat Singh and is operated by CHIAL (Chandigarh International Airport Limited). CHIAL is a joint venture company between the Airports Authority of India (51%), the Government of Punjab (24.5%) and the Government of Haryana.
32. Nashik Airport (ISK)
Nashik Airport is located at Ozar, 20 km northeast of the city center, and also serves as the Indian Air Force base serving the city of Nashik, Maharashtra, India. It is located at Ozar, 20 km (12 mi) northeast of the city center. The Nashik airport is owned by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). It serves the Nashik Metropolitan Region (NMR) and the North Maharashtra Region.
33. Vadodara Airport (BDQ)
Vadodara Airport is a customs airport and Indian Air Force base operating in the city of Vadodara in the state of Gujarat, India. After Ahmedabad and Surat airports, this is the third-busiest airport in Gujarat. It was also ranked the second cleanest airport in India by the Airports Authority of India in 2020.
34. Kushinagar Airport (KBK)
Kushinagar International Airport is one of the international airports in India serving Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was inaugurated by PM Modi recently and the airport was licensed to operate as a customs-notified airport. It facilitated the movement of international passengers and Buddhist pilgrims. All services from this airport are terminated till 30 March 2024 from November 2023.
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