Delhi airport traffic rises 6.8% in June as Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai decline
Delhi handled 65.79 lakh passengers in June 2026, up from 61.63 lakh a year earlier. It was the only one of India’s five busiest airports to post growth, signalling relative resilience for its travel retail ecosystem as Hyderabad and Chennai recorded double-digit declines.
What happened
Delhi Airport (DEL) · Delhi was the only one of India’s five busiest airports to grow passenger traffic in June 2026, while Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and
Key facts
- Delhi handled 65.79 lakh passengers in June 2026, up 6.8% year-on-year from 61.63 lakh in June 2025
- Indian airports handled 3.34 crore passengers in June 2026, down around 2% year-on-year
- Hyderabad traffic declined 12.9% year-on-year
- Chennai traffic declined 12.7% year-on-year
Why this matters
Prioritise Delhi airport partnerships, concessions and adjacencies, while using traffic weakness at Hyderabad and Chennai to pursue selectively priced deals or renegotiations.
What to watch
- Delhi international passenger growth, transit-share growth and airline seat-capacity additions over the next two quarters.
- Monthly traffic recovery or further deterioration at Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai.
- Duty-free sales per international passenger and F&B sales per domestic passenger at Delhi.
- New terminal capacity, airline hub decisions, route launches and changes in international connectivity at Delhi.
- Evidence that the June divergence reflects calendar effects, weather disruption, airline scheduling or a durable shift in traffic share.
- Retailer lease renegotiations, store closures or reduced operating hours at Hyderabad and Chennai.
- Increase Delhi airport assortment depth in high-margin international passenger categories such as liquor, beauty, fragrances, luxury accessories, electronics and premium gifting.
- Shift short-cycle inventory and promotional funding from weaker southern airport locations toward Delhi, while avoiding overstock until passenger-mix data confirms sustained demand.
- Use targeted offers for transit passengers, family travel and departing international travelers to raise conversion rather than relying only on footfall growth.
- Review southern-airport store labor rosters, replenishment frequency and lease-performance thresholds; protect brand visibility but reduce fixed-cost intensity where traffic weakness persists.
- Track whether Delhi's growth is domestic-led or international-led, as this determines whether F&B/convenience or duty-free/luxury captures the larger upside.