Air freight traffic at Indian airports FY 2014-2023, by sector

The total freight tonnage handled at Indian airports in financial year 2023 was at 3.15 million metric tons. The majority of this was international freight. Three major airports, namely Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, and Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru, handled nearly half of the air freight of the country.

Air freight industry

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Indian aviation saw rapid expansion of its passenger sector. Its market regularly saw double dight growth. Despite the bankruptcy of one of India’s largest airlines, Jet Airways in 2019, India’s passenger air travel achieved an impressive 12 percent compound annual growth rate between 2009 and 2019. Meanwhile, the air freight market has been overshadowed by its passenger counterpart. However, during the pandemic, domestic air freight demand saw quicker recovery. It was driven by demands from the pharmaceutical industry and e-commerce sectors.

Airports and infrastructure

There are more than 400 airports and airstrips in India. But only around 133 of them are operational. In recent years, the government has liberalized the airport sector to allow private and foreign investors in its development. 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) was allowed for greenfield projects, and 79 percent FDI was allowed for brownfield projects. In terms of both passenger traffic and freight traffic, Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi is the biggest in the country. It has three runways, 100 million passengers, and 1.8 million metric tons cargo capacity.