With airports and passenger traffic rising, the government plans to add 60 more airports to the scheme within three years.
India plans to develop 44 airports under a phased hub‑and‑spoke strategy aimed at transforming the country into a global aviation hub, Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha said on Tuesday.
“We will gradually develop four aviation hubs and 40 spokes across the country. All our international airports will be developed as spokes,” Sinha said at the rollout of Air India’s Easy Connect service from Amritsar in Punjab.
The model is designed to provide passengers from Tier‑2 and Tier‑3 cities with seamless international connectivity. Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad have been identified as initial hubs.
“Ever since launching in Varanasi last month, we have been monitoring the number of passengers who are benefiting from the scheme daily. And slowly their numbers are rising,” Sinha said.
Amritsar currently offers direct international flights to seven destinations. Under the new model, passengers can now connect to more than 20 destinations via Delhi. About 300,000 international passengers move through Amritsar annually via Delhi, split evenly between outbound and inbound traffic.
The government is preparing to expand the scheme further. “We have prepared a blueprint through the Airports Authority of India. Given the growing number of airports and passengers, we have plans to add another 60 airports over the next three years,” Sinha said.
In a recorded address, Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said the hub‑and‑spoke model would also strengthen airline economics. “The hub‑and‑spoke will also help our airlines to increase their revenue per flight, as well as strengthen their presence on long‑haul international routes. I would also like to state that the hub‑and-spoke scheme is designed for building India’s aviation sovereignty.”
Naidu added that reducing dependence on foreign hubs such as Singapore would help create 400,000 new jobs by 2030.
Global Connectivity
Air India said it has designated two daily Amritsar‑Delhi flights as Easy Connect services. The morning flight, AI1113, is timed for onward connections to Europe, while the late evening AI1115 links to destinations in the US, Canada, Australia, and Asia.
“Punjab is home to one of the largest globally connected communities of Indians… Yet for many travellers, international journeys have often involved navigating multiple airports, repeated formalities, and lengthy transit experiences. With Easy Connect flights from Amritsar, travellers can now begin their overseas journeys from their home city without any hassle,” said P Balaji, Group Head of Governance, Risk, Compliance & Corporate Affairs at Air India.
Air India will also become the first Indian carrier to implement the ministry’s standard operating procedure for inbound hub‑and‑spoke operations, enabling seamless international‑to‑domestic transfers via Delhi. The inbound model is expected to be introduced from Amritsar within two months.
– Manish Pant