Ahmedabad, September 2: Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjirapu Ram Mohan Naidu inaugurated the ‘hub-and-spoke’ international aviation operations at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (SVPIA) in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. This new system allows international travelers departing from this city to complete immigration and customs formalities before flying to foreign destinations via Delhi.
Under this initiative, Ahmedabad has been designated as the first ‘spoke airport,’ while Delhi will serve as the designated international ‘hub.’
The aim of this system is to facilitate international travel for passengers using non-metro and regional airports. Immigration and customs clearance will be completed at the point of origin, making the travel process smoother.
The launch event at Ahmedabad Airport was attended by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murleedhar Mohol, and Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghvi.
Also present were Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Das, Civil Aviation Secretary Sameer Kumar Sinha, Adani Airports Holding Limited Director Jeet Adani, and CEO Arun Bansal.
With the hub-and-spoke system, passengers traveling internationally from Ahmedabad will complete check-in, immigration, and customs processes at the spoke airport. Their luggage will be sent directly to their final international destination, eliminating the need for additional immigration and customs clearance in Delhi.
Flights departing from the spoke airport will accommodate both domestic and international passengers. Domestic travelers will receive a boarding pass marked ‘D,’ while international passengers will have a boarding pass marked ‘I’ for both the Ahmedabad-Delhi sector and their onward international flight.
Officials stated that this model aims to enhance international connectivity from tier-2 and tier-3 cities, reduce transit times, and maintain higher international passenger traffic within the Indian aviation network.
This initiative is expected to optimize the existing infrastructure at major airports and strengthen Delhi’s role as an international hub.
The initiative is part of the central government’s broader strategy to establish India as a preferred aviation hub for Indian travelers by 2030 and a major global aviation hub by 2047.
The ministry emphasized the need to attract international transfer traffic that currently passes through foreign hubs. Ram Mohan Naidu previously noted that nearly 35% of international travelers from India transit through foreign hubs like Dubai, London, and Singapore.
He described the hub-and-spoke model as a transformative step that enables passengers to start their international journeys from their own cities and connect through Indian hubs.
The launch in Ahmedabad marks the first step in a proposed extensive network. The ministry plans to bring more international and customs airports under this framework based on operational readiness and stakeholder preparedness.
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