India’s largest international airports (by acreage)

Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International –
Source: hyderabad.aero/photo-gallery.aspx

So often statistics on airports are presented based on passenger traffic, cargo tonnage, or aircraft operations. Instead, the list below shows the 21 international airports in India ranked by the amount of land area (or acreage) they occupy.

Another view of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport –
Source: hyderabad.aero/photo-gallery.aspx

While it is unclear whether there is a definitive relationship between land mass and passenger traffic or aircraft operations, larger airport facilities certainly have a rosier long-term growth advantage as more land is readily available for lengthening/adding runways, expanding/adding terminals,  enlarged air freight storage and distribution, and other ancillary uses.

Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport –
Source: flyawaysimulation.com

The most interesting nuance of the 2012 data is the large gap in land area occupied (more than 2,000 acres) between the five largest airports in India and the balance of the list.

       City (Airport name if different)             Acres

1. Hyderabad (Rajiv Gandhi)                      5,495
2. Delhi (Indira Gandhi)                                5,220
3. Mumbai  (Shivaji)                                     4,800
4. Bengaluru                                                4,000
5. Kolkata (Bose)                                         1,641
6. Panaji (Goa)                                             1,424
7. Chennai                                                   1,400
8. Nagpur (Ambedkar)                                1,355
9. Amristar  (Jee)                                         1,250
10. Kochi (Cochin)                                         1,200 (corrected on 12/26/17)
11. Lucknow (Singh)                                      1,187
12. Ahmedabad (Patel)                                    929
13. Jaipur                                                         716
14. Tirchuchirapalli                                           702
15. Guwahati (Bordoloi)                                    628
16. Thiruvananthapura (Trivandum)                  616
17. Coimbatore                                                 608
18. Mangalore                                                   584
19. Varanassi (Shastri)                                      583
20. Kozihode (Calicut)                                      378
21. Port Blair (Savarkar)                                   134

Sources:

• aai.aero
• airportsindia.org
• en.wikipedia.org
• reddiff.com