International Airports in India: Complete List with City, State and IATA Code (2026)

International Airports in India: Quick Answer

India has 36 international airports as of 7 July 2026, according to the Ministry of Civil Aviation's airport dashboard, corroborated by Wikipedia's AAI/DGCA-sourced list of airports in India (June 2026), which also counts 36 international and 11 limited international airports. Uttar Pradesh has the most, with 5, followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu with 4 each. The largest and busiest airport in India is Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL), New Delhi.

🔥 Key Exam Takeaway: Total = 36 international airports (MoCA dashboard, 7 July 2026) + 11 limited international / customs airports. UP leads with 5 (Lucknow, Varanasi, Ayodhya, Kushinagar, Noida/Jewar); Kerala and Tamil Nadu have 4 each. Madurai (IXM) was declared an international airport by the Union Cabinet on 10 March 2026. The three newest are Navi Mumbai (Dec 2025), Noida/Jewar (Jun 2026) and Bhogapuram/Visakhapatnam (Aug 2026). Cochin (COK) is India's first PPP airport AND the world's first fully solar-powered airport (2015).

Why do books and websites say 33 or 34? Because the count moved while their pages stayed still. Lists saying 33 pre-date Navi Mumbai's commercial opening on 25 December 2025, and lists saying 34 were published before Noida/Jewar opened on 15 June 2026 and Bhogapuram on 17 August 2026 — and one popular "34" list omits Srinagar and Port Blair entirely. Any page without an "as of" date is probably out of date. This page is as of 7 November 2026, and the headline figure carries its date: 7 July 2026.

What Counts as an "International Airport"?

An international airport is an airport authorised to handle regular international traffic, with full customs and immigration facilities. That is a designation count, not a count of airports with scheduled international flights on a given day. Kushinagar (KBK), for example, is designated international but has very limited scheduled international traffic, and Noida/Jewar (DXN) opened with domestic flights only — international flights were planned, not yet operating, as of 7 November 2026.

Two other counts get mixed up with this one, so keep them separate. India has around 165 operational airports of all types (MoCA dashboard, 7 July 2026), up from 74 in 2014 under the UDAN regional-connectivity scheme — UDAN stands for Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik. And India has 487 airports and airstrips in total, including non-operational, military and private airfields (Wikipedia, AAI-recognised list). Never present 487 as "airports in India" without that qualifier; it is the most common misreading in this topic.

The bodies behind the list are the Airports Authority of India (AAI), a statutory body under the Ministry of Civil Aviation formed on 1 April 1995, which manages most domestic and regional airports, and the private operators that run the big metros — GMR Airports and Adani Airport Holdings among them. Airport codes come in two kinds, and exams ask for the first: IATA codes are 3 letters (DEL, BOM, BLR), while ICAO codes are 4 letters (VIDP, VABB) and begin with V for India.

Latest Additions: Three New International Airports in 2025–26

These three openings are why the count changed, and they are the most likely exam questions in this topic this year.

Bhogapuram needs care: it is a relocation, not an addition. Visakhapatnam keeps exactly one row in the 36 — the airport moved about 45–50 km to Bhogapuram and the VTZ code moved with it, while the old enclave's scheduled operations were suspended for 30 years (MoCA notification S.O. 4173(E), 28 July 2026). Counting Bhogapuram on top of Visakhapatnam would double-count one airport. One more thing on Jewar: the UP Cabinet approved renaming it Narendra Modi International Airport on 9 October 2026, but no formal Gazette notification was confirmed as of 7 November 2026, so this page presents the renaming as approved, not in force — do not use the new name as if it were official yet.

International Airports in India: Complete List (Official Count 36)

The full list, with IATA code, city, state and operator. Operators are given as commonly cited in AAI-sourced lists; privatisation rounds after 2020 changed several operators, and the AAI's own public FAQ page still lists only 17 AAI-managed international airports, so operator attributions should be re-checked against the current AAI directory at merge.

The table has 37 rows against the official count of 36 because Madurai was added after its 10 March 2026 upgrade, and that upgrade came before the 7 July 2026 dashboard date, so the official 36 already includes it. One of the other rows is therefore probably not on the official list (the AAI-sourced Wikipedia list marks Agartala and Indore as customs airports). Re-check the rows against the MoCA list before relying on any single row. The count to learn is still 36.

The state tally from the table is: Uttar Pradesh 5 (Lucknow, Varanasi, Ayodhya, Kushinagar, Noida/Jewar) — the most; Kerala 4 (Kochi, Kozhikode, Kannur, Thiruvananthapuram); Tamil Nadu 4 (Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai); Andhra Pradesh 3 (Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupati); Maharashtra 3 (Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Nagpur); Gujarat 2 (Ahmedabad, Surat); Goa 2 (Dabolim, Mopa); Karnataka 2 (Bengaluru, Mangaluru). That corrects the stale claim, still carried by some lists, that Kerala and UP are tied at 4 — UP moved to 5 when Jewar opened. Note also that Calicut is not a new international airport: some guides call it "recently added", but it was international for years before a 2024–25 re-notification.

Limited International / Customs Airports (The Other 11)

These handle domestic traffic plus a limited number of international flights for limited periods. They are not part of the 36, and calling them full international airports is a standard exam trap. Five names are verified as customs / limited-international in the Wikipedia AAI-sourced list; the remaining six of the 11 could not be verified against the AAI directory, so they are not listed here by name.

Six more customs airports make up the 11, but their names are unverified — do not learn them from secondary lists until they are confirmed against the AAI airport directory. The distinction to remember is simple: international airports have full customs and immigration for regular international traffic; customs airports handle domestic traffic with only limited international flights for limited periods.

Records, Firsts and Facts That Get Asked

One-line facts that are asked in exams

• Cochin (COK) is both firsts at once — first PPP airport and first fully solar-powered airport in the world. Learn it as one fact, not two.
• Delhi's airport is Indira Gandhi International (DEL), not "Palam Airport" — Palam is the area it stands in. Its exact area and annual passenger figure are not given here: sources disagree on the area (5,106 vs 5,495 acres) and the exact yearly figure was not confirmed against AAI traffic statistics.
• The two Goas: Dabolim (GOI) is the old airport, a civil enclave; Mopa / Manohar (GOX) is the new one, opened in 2022. "I is old, X is new."
• Jewar (DXN) is not Delhi's airport. It is in Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh — Delhi NCR's second airport — and it opened with domestic flights first.
• Juhu Aerodrome (1928) is where Indian civil aviation began: J.R.D. Tata flew the first airmail service from Karachi to Bombay, landing at Juhu on 15 October 1932, and Tata Airlines — later Air India — was born there.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Saying India has 487 airports (that is airports plus airstrips, including non-operational, military and private airfields — the operational figure is about 165).
• Saying 33 or 34 international airports (stale — the MoCA dashboard says 36 as of 7 July 2026; the new airports are Navi Mumbai, Jewar and Bhogapuram).
• Counting Bhogapuram as an extra airport on top of Visakhapatnam (it replaced the old INS Dega enclave; the VTZ code moved with it).
• Calling Bagdogra, Pune, Chandigarh or Gaya full international airports (they are customs / limited-international). Madurai is the exception: it became a full international airport on 10 March 2026.
• Calling Delhi's airport "Palam Airport" as its current name (Palam is the area; the airport is Indira Gandhi International, DEL).
• Mixing up the two Goas: Dabolim (GOI, old, civil enclave) vs Mopa/Manohar (GOX, new, 2022).
• Saying Jewar is Delhi's airport (it is in Gautam Buddha Nagar, UP — Delhi NCR's second airport) or that it is already handling international flights (domestic first; international planned).
• Mixing up IATA and ICAO codes: IATA codes are 3 letters (DEL, BOM); ICAO codes are 4 (VIDP, VABB). Exam questions ask for IATA.
• Using the "VTZ8" code for Bhogapuram seen in one Wikipedia mirror — a scraping artefact. The IATA code is VTZ.

How to Remember the Airports (Study Method)

1. Learn the count timeline first: 33 (before Dec 2025) → 34 → 36 (MoCA dashboard, 7 July 2026), with Navi Mumbai, Jewar and Bhogapuram as the three steps. The date is part of the answer.
2. Learn the "DEL-BOM-BLR" golden triangle: Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru — the three busiest, in order; their codes spell the revision order.
3. Learn Kerala's 4: COK–CCJ–CNN–TRV — Cochin, Calicut, Kannur, Trivandrum, all in one state.
4. Learn UP's 5: LKO–VNS–AYJ–KBK–DXN — Lucknow, Varanasi, Ayodhya, Kushinagar, Jewar — the religious-tourism set plus NCR; UP is the only state with 5.
5. Learn the newest three in date order: NMI (Dec 2025) → DXN (Jun 2026) → VTZ Bhogapuram (Aug 2026) — "Navi Mumbai, Noida, new Vizag".
6. Learn "Cochin: first PPP, first solar" as one line — COK is both firsts.

International Airports in India MCQs with Answers

Q1. How many international airports are there in India? (a) 33 (b) 34 (c) 35 (d) 36 Answer: (d) 36 (Ministry of Civil Aviation dashboard, 7 July 2026).

Q2. Which is the largest and busiest airport in India? (a) Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (b) Kempegowda International Airport (c) Indira Gandhi International Airport (d) Chennai International Airport Answer: (c) Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL), New Delhi.

Q3. What is the IATA code of Mumbai's international airport? (a) BOM (b) MUM (c) CSM (d) NMI Answer: (a) BOM (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport).

Q4. Which airport is the world's first fully solar-powered airport? (a) Delhi (DEL) (b) Cochin (COK) (c) Bengaluru (BLR) (d) Hyderabad (HYD) Answer: (b) Cochin International Airport (COK), Kerala — solar plant commissioned 18 Aug 2015.

Q5. Which is India's first airport built under the PPP model? (a) Hyderabad (HYD) (b) Bengaluru (BLR) (c) Cochin (COK) (d) Delhi (DEL) Answer: (c) Cochin International Airport (COK).

Q6. Which is the newest international airport in Uttar Pradesh? (a) Lucknow (LKO) (b) Varanasi (VNS) (c) Noida/Jewar (DXN) (d) Ayodhya (AYJ) Answer: (c) Noida International Airport, Jewar (DXN), commercial operations from 15 Jun 2026.

Q7. Which airport serves Visakhapatnam now, and what is its IATA code? (a) INS Dega, VTZ (b) Bhogapuram, VTZ (c) Bhogapuram, VTZ8 (d) Vijayawada, VGA Answer: (b) Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport, Bhogapuram — VTZ (moved from the old INS Dega enclave on 17 Aug 2026).

Q8. Which state has the most international airports in India? (a) Kerala (b) Maharashtra (c) Uttar Pradesh (d) Tamil Nadu Answer: (c) Uttar Pradesh (5: Lucknow, Varanasi, Ayodhya, Kushinagar, Noida/Jewar).

Q9. What is the IATA code for Bengaluru airport? (a) BNG (b) BLR (c) KEM (d) HYD Answer: (b) BLR (Kempegowda International Airport).

Q10. Which two international airports serve Goa? (a) GOI and GOX (b) GOI and BOM (c) GOX and AMD (d) GOI and CCJ Answer: (a) Goa International Airport, Dabolim (GOI) and Manohar International Airport, Mopa (GOX).

International Airports in India FAQs

How many international airports are there in India in 2026?

36 (MoCA dashboard, 7 July 2026), plus 11 limited-international / customs airports. Older books saying 33 or 34 pre-date the 2025–26 openings of Navi Mumbai, Jewar and Bhogapuram.

Which is the busiest airport in India?

Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi (DEL).

What is the difference between an international airport and a customs airport?

International airports have full customs and immigration for regular international traffic; customs airports handle domestic traffic with only limited international flights for limited periods. Pune, Bagdogra, Chandigarh, Gaya and Patna are customs airports, not part of the 36. Madurai was a customs airport until the Union Cabinet declared it international on 10 March 2026.

Which is the newest international airport in India?

Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport, Bhogapuram (VTZ), operational from 17 Aug 2026. Noida/Jewar (DXN) opened 15 Jun 2026 and Navi Mumbai (NMI) began commercial operations on 25 Dec 2025.

Which airport is the world's first fully solar-powered airport?

Cochin International Airport, Kerala (COK) — 12 MWp solar plant commissioned 18 Aug 2015. It is also India's first PPP airport.

How many international airports does Kerala have?

Four: Kochi (COK), Kozhikode (CCJ), Kannur (CNN), Thiruvananthapuram (TRV).

What is the IATA code for Delhi airport?

DEL (Indira Gandhi International Airport; ICAO: VIDP).

Related topics: revise States and Capitals of India 2026, List of Governors and Chief Ministers of Indian States 2026, Major Ports in India List, National Waterways in India List, GI Tags in India 2026, Ramsar Sites in India 2026 List, UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India 2026 and First in India List next. Also see Highest Mountain Peaks in India. Also see National Highways in India: Longest, State-wise List with Numbers (2026).

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Sources: Ministry of Civil Aviation airport dashboard, 7 July 2026 (36 international airports, 165 operational), via IndiaBaggageRules; Wikipedia "List of airports in India" (AAI/DGCA-sourced, June 2026: 36 international and 11 limited international; 487 airports/airstrips); CIAL official site (first PPP airport; world's first fully solar-powered airport, 2015); Wikipedia "Noida International Airport" and "Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport"; MoCA notification S.O. 4173(E), 28 July 2026 (Bhogapuram relocation); PIB, Union Cabinet decision of 10 March 2026 (Madurai declared an international airport). IGI Delhi area and exact annual passenger figure, Jewar scheduled international flights, the Jewar renaming notification, the remaining 5 customs airports and individual operator attributions are held as unverified — see the notes in the text. As of 7 November 2026.