Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has bagged the Best Airport Award (under class X cities category) for 2013-14.
The award, part of the National Tourism Awards (NTA) was presented by the President Pranab Mukherjee at a glittering ceremony held at Vigyan Bhavan on Friday, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said in a statement.
The Best Airport awards were presented in categories, one for class X cities — Delhi, Greater Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru while the other award were for the airports other than these cities, the statement said.
The best airport awards were judged on seven parameters including tourist-friendly infrastructure, maintenance and upkeep, adaptation of eco-friendly practices, availability of transport facility from airport to nearest city center and facilities for the physically challenged persons.
DIAL is joint venture between Airports Authority of India (AAI) and GMR Group-led consortium. The GMR along with its consortium partner Fraport holds 74 per cent stake while the rest are with AAI.
The Ministry of Tourism presents National Tourism Awards to various segments of the travel, hospitality and tourism industry every year.
The event was attended by Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma, senior Ministry officials and representatives of states and various stakeholders including airport operators.
“We are privileged to receive this coveted award and we dedicate it to all our stakeholders at IGIA. GMR Group takes pride in transforming the passenger experience at India’s gateway and the capital airport,” DIAL chief executive I Prabhakara Rao said.
IGIA is the largest airport in South Asia, serving over 115 destinations with 56 international and eight domestic airlines.
With an annual passenger handling capacity of over 60 million, Delhi airport is the busiest in the country and South Asia’s only hub for Star Alliance carriers, of which national careier Air India is a member.