India plans to turn airports into aviation hubs: Scindia

The government has set in motion a plan to transform Indian airports into aviation hubs--beginning with the Delhi airport--to ensure seamless connectivity and minimize connection time between flights, Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said.

- Anu Sharma & Mihir Mishra

“We are working with stakeholders to look at how we can prepare Delhi airport to become a hub. A consultant will be hired to look at international comparables to see how we can go about doing that, so that is a work in progress," Scindia said. “We need a concentration of airlines, domestic to international connectivity with that airline, and minimum connect time between those airlines. We need to ensure that the vicissitudes and the volatility in terms of arrival and departures between flights are flattened out."

The consultant, which is expected to submit a report in the second half of 2023, will consider various aspects needed for the hub, such as the concentration of airlines, domestic to international connectivity, and minimal connection times between airlines. The study will examine practices at airports like Heathrow in London, Dubai, Doha and Singapore.