Delhi airport operator GMR Airports Limited is filing a lawsuit against the Indian government for allowing commercial flights from a nearby defence aerodrome, reported the news agency Reuters, citing the legal papers of the case.
According to the data collected from the lawsuit, Delhi Airport will become “economically and financially unviable” after the government permitted commercial flights from the nearby defence airbase in Ghaziabad, according to the agency report citing DIAL (Delhi International Airport Ltd).
The lawsuit, filed in the Delhi High Court, alleges that the Indian government has breached aviation rules, which ban a new airport within 150 kilometres of an existing one.
DIAL aims to overturn this government decision through this lawsuit and highlights that Air India Express started operating from the Hindon Airforce Station in March 2025. The distance between the Delhi International Airport and the defence airport is nearly 30 kilometres.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation did not respond to the agency’s queries as per the report.
Delhi Airport
Delhi International Airport is one of the busiest airports in India, with nearly 73.6 million passengers travelling to their destinations in one year.
Delhi International Airport Limited is a joint venture between GMR Airports Limited (a subsidiary of GMR Group), the Airports Authority of India, and the Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide, as per the official website.
GMR Airports is the largest shareholder of DIAL, with holdings of 64 per cent, compared to 26 per cent of the Airports Authority of India and 10 per cent of Fraport AG Frankfurt.
According to the agency report, the airport lost $21 million due to higher government fees.
Currently, the International airport operates one international terminal and two domestic terminals with a total of four runways. This gives carriers both domestic and international access to 144 airline routes.
On the cargo front, the Delhi International Airport spans 150 acres and is equipped with two integrated cargo terminals and an on-airport logistics centre.
According to the official GMR data, the Delhi Airport handles connections to 67 International and 79 Domestic destinations and operates with more than 65 airlines and over 20 freighter carriers.
(LiveMint couldn’t independently verify the report.)
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