Aviation: IGI Airport in top 20 Busiest Airports in the World list; pax traffic at whopping 6.34 crore
In a very big achievement for India, IGI airport (Indira Gandhi International Airport) in Delhi has been ranked as the 16th busiest in the world. It indicates how popular aviation has become in India as well as the country's growing clout in this segment and is nothing short of a proud moment for the citizens. This also means India is one of the fastest growing domestic aviation markets in the world.
IGI airport is 16th among the world's top 20 busiest aerodromes in terms of passengers handled on an annual basis. IGI airport, which is in the national capital, handled as many as 6.34 crore passengers in the year 2017.
IGI airport handled 14 per cent more passengers last year and jumped 6 places from 22nd position in 2016, according to Airports Council International (ACI). ACI is the trade association of the world's airports, currently serving 641 members operating 1,953 airports across 176 countries.
What is causing IGI airport nd other emerging markets airports to rise up in rankings? Sizeable population bases and rapid increase in incomes in emerging markets are the main economic engines driving air transportation demand, ACI added.
Apart from IGI airport, other aerodromes that made stellar news was Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson in the US, which maintained its position as the world's busiest airport by handling 10.39 crore passengers in 2017.
At the 2nd position in the list was Beijing airport - it handled 9.58 crore passengers, said the World Airport Traffic Report.
At third spot in the busiest airports in the world list was Dubai International Airport, which handled 8.82 crore passengers.
Tokyo airport and Los Angeles airport made up the top five with 8.54 crore and 8.45 crore passengers, respectively.
As far as region-wise break-up is concerned, then it was revealed that passenger traffic in advanced economies grew 5.2 per cent while in emerging economies it rose 10.3 per cent in 2017.
"It is expected that rising incomes in emerging markets will help propel global traffic to new heights in the coming decades as new aviation hubs begin to overtake the more mature markets of Western Europe and North America," ACI said in a release.