Delhi Airport sees business potential from rare repatriation flights

International repatriation flights during the nationwide lockdown have opened up a new opportunity for the Delhi airport.

Executives at the country’s busiest airport were pleasantly surprised to see airlines from across the world flying to take back their citizens during the Covid-19-induced lockdown. “It was surprising to see some of the requests for repatriation flights. It was hard to believe that so many citizens from countries such as Panama, Nicaragua work in India that it could fill a full flight,” said a Delhi airport official.

During the two months of the lockdown, the airport handled about 92 flights handling 8,000 passengers to 28 destinations that weren’t connected to Delhi before. Now the airport, which is connected to 73 international locations, sees an opportunity — operating regular flights to some of these new destinations.