India Aims to Develop Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru Airports as Global Transit Hubs

New Delhi: India is seeking to seize a rare opportunity to promote its airports as hub alternatives to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha amid the travel disruptions in the Gulf due to the Iran war.

The government has formulated an integrated policy to develop the main airports of Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru into international transit centres, said a senior official.

Such airports aggregate passenger demand from an entire region and offer multiple direct flights to major cities worldwide.

Currently, 85% of India's connecting traffic travels via airports such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore's Changi. Many Indian passengers travelling to North America also tend to connect through European airports such as Frankfurt and London.

Towards this initiative, the government has liberalised airport immigration and cargo-screening rules, making it more convenient for passengers travelling from smaller towns to international destinations through a major hub.

Air India will launch its first such flight next week, allowing passengers travelling from Varanasi to 17 international destinations - including London Heathrow, Frankfurt, Milan, and Singapore - to complete immigration at their first point of departure.

Passengers will then travel to a designated Indian airport, such as Delhi or Mumbai, and connect directly to their international flight without repeating immigration or customs procedures. Baggage will be transferred airside, without requiring passengers to collect and check it in again.

After testing the model on the Varanasi-Delhi route, more routes will be added to the capital's airport, followed by transit connections via Mumbai and Bengaluru, officials said.

"The hub-and-spoke model will be a key pillar of the international hub strategy," said the official cited above.

These destinations will include London Heathrow, Frankfurt, Milan, and Singapore.

Passengers will then travel to a designated Indian airport, such as Delhi or Mumbai, and connect directly to their international flights without repeating immigration or customs procedures. Baggage will be transferred airside, without requiring passengers to collect and check it in again.

After testing the model on the Varanasi-Delhi route, more routes will be added to the capital's airport, followed by transit connections via Mumbai and Bengaluru, officials said.

"The hub-and-spoke model will be a key pillar of the international hub strategy," said the official cited above. "It will increase passenger convenience by reducing minimum connection time and enhancing the travel experience."

To succeed as a transit hub, an airport has to offer connection times that aren't too lengthy between flights. Major airports like Dubai and Istanbul achieve this in 60 minutes or so through high-speed trains or underground road networks, while Delhi takes around two hours, as transferring between terminals remains tedious.

To address this, Delhi airport will soon begin transferring passengers among its three terminals airside by bus, cutting transfer time to 20 minutes. Such passengers will no longer need to undergo security checks before their next flight. The airport is also planning to start work on India's first air train, which will connect the three terminals and the cargo facility, in an effort to modernise passenger transport infrastructure, according to reports. That's expected to be ready in about 30 months.

Delhi airport's share of transfer passengers has grown steadily to one in four currently.