Seamless Immigration at Hub Airports

New Delhi, Oct 25 (PTI) The government is looking to put in place a seamless immigration process in which a passenger planning to travel overseas through Delhi or Mumbai airports can complete immigration at select origin airports.

The plan being considered by the Civil Aviation Ministry is part of efforts to make key Indian airports international aviation hubs by ensuring seamless, smooth transfer processes.

In response to a PTI query on efforts to address issues related to making India an international aviation hub, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Saturday said the ministry has identified Delhi and Mumbai airports for the first phase to make them international hubs.

For example, Naidu said that if a person is flying from Surat to London, can he or she come to Surat, complete the immigration process there, and then take the flight from Delhi without leaving the terminal.

"So, these are some things that we are working on, where the passenger, even if he is coming from another point and wanting to travel outside the country, can come to the hub destination, and without doing another immigration, can travel from there.

"This is the D to I (Domestic to International) travel, and there is I to I (International to International) travel also," the minister said.


On the policy framework side, the ministry is actively looking at all these things, Naidu said, adding that the aim is to build a comprehensive passenger transfer ecosystem over the next two to three years.

He spoke on the sidelines after inaugurating the refurbished Terminal 2 (T2) at the Delhi airport.

According to him, the challenge is to ensure seamless passenger transfers in efforts to make India an international aviation hub.

"How do we make it more seamless for D to D (Domestic to Domestic), I to D (International to Domestic), D to I (Domestic to International) and I to I (International to International) transfers. This is the challenge...," the minister said.

India is one of the world's fastest-growing civil aviation markets, and domestic airlines have placed orders for nearly 1,500 aircraft.

The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) is the country's largest airport. It has three terminals and four runways.