Indira Gandhi International Airport
Indira Gandhi International Airport, located in the city of New Delhi, India, and near Delhi, India is one of India's main domestic and international gateways. The airport's IATA Airport Code is DEL.In 1984, Indian leader Indira Gandhi, the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru (a former Indian Prime Minister), was murdered after arriving at this airport, and since then, the airport has been named after her.
On 22 June 1985, Air India Flight 182, which was flying on a Toronto-Montreal-London-Delhi-Mumbai route, exploded in midair, killing all of the passengers aboard.
On 12 November 1996 the airport was the scene of a disaster when a Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747, climbing out after take-off, collided with an incoming Kazakhstan Airlines plane chartered by a fashion company, causing the deaths of all aboard the two planes.
An Indian Airlines airplane enroute to Indira Gandhi airport from Kathmandu was hijacked on 24 December, 1999 (Christmas Eve). The plane was flown to Amritsar, India, then to Lahore, Pakistan, then to a military base in the United Arab Emirates. One passenger was killed prior to the landing in UAE. 25 passnegers were exchanged for food, water, and jet fuel in the UAE. The hijackers then flew to Qandahar, Afghanistan. The Indian government then negotiated with the Taliban for several days. On 31 December, the Indian government let go three Kashmiri militants in exchange for the rest of the passengers on the plane. The plane passengers were flown back to India on a different aircraft before being freed.
No airlines use the airport as a hub, but it sees many domestic and international flights daily.
International Airlines serving the airport include:
- Aeroflot
- Air France
- Air Canada
- Air Mauritius
- Air Ukraine
- Alitalia
- Ariana Afghan Airlines
- Austrian Airlines
- Biman Bangladesh
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- CSA Czezkoslovenske
- Druk Air
- Egyptair
- EL AL
- Emirates
- Ethiopian Airlines
- Gulf Air
- Iran Air
- Japan Airlines
- Kazakhstan Airlines
- Kenya Airways
- KLM
- Korean Air
- Kuwait Airways
- Lufthansa
- Malaysia Airlines
- Pakistan International Airlines
- Philippine Airlines
- Qantas
- Royal Brunei
- Royal Jordanian
- Royal Nepal
- Scandinavian Airlines System
- Saudi Arabian Airlines
- South African Airways
- Singapore Airlines
- Swiss International Air Lines
- Syrian Arab Airlines
- Tarom
- Thai Airways
- Turkistan Airlines
- Uzbekistan Airlines
- Varig
- Zambia Airways
- Air India (which also operates international service from this airport)
- Indian Airlines
- Jet Airways
