Bengaluru airport edges past Mumbai in domestic passenger traffic, but MMR stays ahead

MUMBAI: Bengaluru airport has overtaken Mumbai in domestic passenger traffic for April to emerge as India’s second-busiest domestic airport. Bengaluru airport handled 3.28 million (32.8 lakh) domestic passengers against Mumbai’s 2.89 million (28.9 lakh)--a gap of nearly 3,90,000 passengers, according to Airports Authority of India data.

Mumbai retains its overall second-place ranking when international traffic is included. The airport handled approximately 4 million (40 lakh) total passengers in April against Bengaluru’s 3.68 million (36.8 lakh), a reflection of Mumbai’s far larger international catchment. Delhi remained India’s busiest airport by a wide margin across all metrics.

The reversal in domestic rankings is not entirely new. During the Covid-disrupted years of 2020 and 2021, Bengaluru had briefly crossed Mumbai in certain months. What distinguishes the current shift is its likely permanence. Mumbai’s single-runway Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport is slot-saturated, and incremental domestic growth from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region is now being absorbed by the newly operational Navi Mumbai International Airport.

Together, the two airports serving the MMR handled approximately 3.4 million (34 lakh) domestic passengers in April--marginally ahead of Bengaluru’s 3.28 million (32.8 lakh). But the gap is expected to widen in Bengaluru’s favour as Navi Mumbai scales up independently.

“The underlying driver is supply-side, not a demand reversal. Airlines continue to add frequencies more easily at Bengaluru, which has operated parallel runways since 2019, than at congested Mumbai,” said an airline official. Mumbai’s incremental domestic growth is now being channelled to Navi Mumbai International Airport, which began operations on Dec 25, 2025, leaving Bengaluru to capture the organic growth of its own rapidly expanding catchment area.

In April, Mumbai’s year-on-year domestic passenger traffic fell 12 %, as against only a 0.8 % drop registered by Bengaluru, while Delhi’s passenger traffic grew by 1.8 %. In the early to mid-thirties the Navi Mumbai airport is expected to handle more flights and passengers than Mumbai airport.