Delhi Indira Gandhi (DEL) Airport Guide 2026 — Terminals, Airport Express Metro

Delhi Indira Gandhi (DEL) — The Complete 2026 Airport Guide

Delhi is India’s busiest airport and its main international gateway — a genuinely good one, once you know its two traps. It has three terminals that are kilometres apart, and the fast Airport Express metro stops at only one of them. Get the terminal wrong, or turn up in December fog without a plan, and a smooth arrival turns into a bad afternoon. Here’s how to do it right.

Last verified: July 2026. Fares, terminal assignments and India’s entry rules change often — confirm the terminal on your ticket, and check the official visa and metro sites, before you travel.

Quick reference

The trap nobody warns you about: the fast metro reaches only T3

Delhi’s headline convenience is the Airport Express metro (the Orange Line) — a slick, cheap ride into the centre in about 20 minutes. The catch that catches thousands of budget flyers: the Airport Express stops at Terminal 3 only. If you fly a low-cost domestic airline into Terminal 1, you are not on that line at all.

T1 has its own, separate metro connection — the Magenta Line, at the underground “Terminal 1–IGI Airport” station, a short covered walk from the building. It works well, but it is a different line, a different route into the city, and slower to the main railway stations. Terminal 2 has no metro station of its own — from T2 you take the free shuttle to T3 and pick up the Airport Express there. So the first question isn’t “where’s the metro?” It’s “which terminal am I in?” — because that decides everything else.

Three terminals, and how to know which is yours

Delhi runs three passenger terminals, and unlike a single-building airport, guessing wrong here costs real time and money. Here’s the 2026 split:

• Terminal 3 (T3) — the big one. Every international flight from Delhi departs here, whatever the airline, alongside the bulk of Air India’s full-service domestic flights. This is the modern, glass-and-steel terminal with the good lounges and the Airport Express metro station.
• Terminal 1 (T1) — rebuilt and expanded, reopened with a large new integrated building. It handles low-cost domestic carriers: IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa Air. Domestic only — no international flights here.
• Terminal 2 (T2) — the older overflow terminal, brought back into use to relieve T3 while it is expanded. It handles some Air India and Air India Express domestic flights. Which ones? See the flight-number tell below.

The Air India flight-number tell (T2 vs T3)

Air India split its Delhi domestic flying across two terminals in late 2025, which trips people up constantly. There is a simple test: if your Air India domestic flight number has four digits and starts with a “1” — for example AI1737 — you depart from T2. Any other Air India number departs from T3. All Air India international flights are T3 regardless. If your itinerary just says “Terminal — see boarding pass”, this rule usually tells you before check-in does.

Getting between terminals — the shuttle, and why the gap matters

The terminals do not adjoin and there is no walkway between them. T1 and T3 are roughly 7 km apart by road; T2 sits next to T3. To cross, use the free inter-terminal shuttle bus, which runs 24/7, every 15–20 minutes, and takes about 15–20 minutes between T1 and T3 in clear traffic — longer in Delhi’s peaks. You must show a valid ticket or boarding pass to board.

Getting into Delhi

The airport is only about 15 km from the centre, so on paper the transfer is short. In practice Delhi traffic is the variable, and the metro is the one option that ignores it. Here’s the honest comparison (approximate fares — confirm current prices at the counter or in the app):

The metro — the smart default from T3

The Airport Express runs from beneath Terminal 3 to New Delhi railway station in about 20 minutes for roughly ₹70 (smart-card holders get about 10% off). New Delhi station connects to the main Yellow Line metro and to India’s rail network. Trains run roughly every 10–15 minutes from around 04:45 to about 23:30 — after the last train it’s a taxi or a ride-hail. Treat the fare as approximate: DMRC revised Airport Express pricing in 2025, so check the fare on the ticket machine rather than an old figure online.

Taxis and ride-hailing — book, don’t be led

For a taxi, use the official prepaid taxi counter (staffed by Delhi Police) inside the arrivals hall: you pay a fixed, all-inclusive fare up front and hand the slip to the driver at the rank. It removes the single biggest arrival headache — the meter argument. Uber and Ola both operate; book in the app and walk to the designated app-pickup zone (follow signage — it is not always at the nearest door). Whatever you do, ignore anyone who approaches you inside the hall offering a “taxi”, “hotel” or “tour” — the official counters and app zones are the only ones to use.

Entry: the e-Visa, and there’s no visa on arrival

This is the part to sort before you leave home, because India does not let most Western visitors sort it at the airport.

• You almost certainly need an e-Visa, applied for online in advance. Citizens of the US, UK, EU countries, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and most other Western nations are eligible for India’s e-Visa — but you must apply and be approved before you fly. There is no visa on arrival for you. India grants visa on arrival to only a handful of nationalities (Japan, South Korea, and certain UAE passport holders); everyone else applies online or at a mission.
• Where and when. Apply only on the official government portal, indianvisaonline.gov.in — not the many lookalike agent sites that charge extra for the same thing. Apply at least 4 days before travel (the system requires it); most approvals come through well inside that window, but don’t cut it fine. The fee is non-refundable whether or not the visa is granted.
• Fees. The common 30-day e-Tourist Visa is around US$25 for most nationalities (a reduced monsoon-season promo runs some years but is not in effect in July). Longer 1-year (~$40) and 5-year (~$80) e-Tourist visas exist. A card/bank processing surcharge of roughly 2.5–3% is added on top. A few nationalities pay different government fees, so check the fee shown for your passport on the official portal.
• The e-Arrival Card. Separately from the visa, India has rolled out a free online e-Arrival Card (immigration pre-registration) at indianvisaonline.gov.in/earrival, which foreign nationals can now file before landing. It is free — again, beware sites that charge for it.

DigiYatra: not for you yet (if you hold a foreign passport)

You’ll see DigiYatra lanes across Delhi’s terminals — a face-recognition system that lets registered flyers walk through terminal entry, security and boarding without repeatedly showing documents. It’s genuinely fast. The important 2026 reality for foreign visitors: enrolment is currently tied to India’s Aadhaar national ID, so foreign-passport holders cannot register yet. A passport-based enrolment route has been promised, with a pilot at Delhi T3 targeted for late 2026, but as of July 2026 it isn’t open. If you’re a foreign tourist, just use the normal check-in and boarding lanes — you’re not missing a shortcut you were entitled to. (From June 2026 India began making DigiYatra mandatory for some international transfer passengers at Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — a moving area, so follow airport signage for the transit corridor.)

Winter fog: the season that eats schedules

If you fly through Delhi between mid-December and late January, plan for fog. It’s not a rare event — it’s an annual, predictable disruption. Cold, still, smog-laden air over the Indo-Gangetic plain drops visibility on the runway, sometimes to tens of metres, and the aviation regulator formally designates a fog window (roughly 10 December to 10 February) each winter.

When it hits, Delhi switches to CAT III low-visibility operations, which keep the airport open — but only aircraft and pilots certified for it can land, so anything else is delayed, diverted or cancelled. A single bad morning in January 2026 saw dozens of flights cancelled and many more pushed back hours. It cascades: a delayed inbound aircraft delays its next departure, all day. What you can do:

• Book the earliest flight you reasonably can, or a late-afternoon one — fog is worst from the pre-dawn hours through mid-morning and often clears by midday.
• Avoid tight same-day connections in December–January. If Delhi is a connection point, build in a long cushion or an overnight.
• Keep the airline app open and notifications on — reaccommodation moves fast when a fog day is declared, and the app usually beats the queue.

The arrivals hall — landing calmly

Delhi’s T3 arrivals are far better organised than the airport’s old reputation suggests, but two things still catch tired long-haul passengers. First, immigration queues can be long behind a bank of wide-body arrivals late at night — have your passport and e-Visa approval (a printout or a screenshot) ready, and use the correct “e-Visa / foreigners” lanes. Second, the exit gauntlet: past the barrier you’ll be approached with offers of taxis, hotels and tours. Walk past all of it. The prepaid taxi police counter and the app-pickup zone are clearly signed, and using them is the difference between a fixed fair fare and a negotiation you’ll lose. Pull cash from a bank ATM in the hall rather than a currency booth, and if an ATM offers to bill you in your home currency, decline and choose rupees.

Lounges

Terminal 3 is where the lounge action is, and it’s strong. Beyond the airline-branded lounges (Air India’s Maharaja lounge, and premium-cabin spaces), the two you can reach on a Priority Pass or by paying at the door are the big aggregators:

• Encalm — large lounges in T3 (international and domestic sides), plus a well-reviewed arrivals lounge if you want a shower and a meal straight off a long flight. Priority Pass accepted; walk-in roughly ₹2,000–3,200 (~€22–36).
• Plaza Premium — in T3, with an à-la-carte “First” tier offering private rest cabins and shower suites at a higher rate. Priority Pass accepted at the standard lounges.

Two practical notes. Not every lounge accepts every card, so check the Priority Pass app for the specific lounge before you commit. And during the evening international departure wave (roughly 18:00–21:00), the popular T3 lounges get busy — arrive with time in hand rather than 45 minutes before boarding.

Connections and minimum times

How much time you need depends entirely on whether you change terminals.

• Within T3 (international-to-international, or international-to-Air-India-domestic on one ticket): the transfer stays airside and is manageable — allow around 90–120 minutes, more in the evening peak or fog season.
• Across terminals (e.g. international at T3 to a low-cost domestic at T1): this means clearing immigration, collecting your bag, exiting, taking the shuttle, and checking in again. Allow 4–5 hours, and don’t book it on separate tickets in December–January unless you enjoy risk.

A genuine improvement is coming: Delhi has been building an airside inter-terminal bus link (expected to phase in from around mid-2026) that would let transfer passengers move between terminals without leaving security. Until it’s fully live for your route, assume the landside shuttle-and-recheck reality above.

Food, SIMs and practicalities

Food: T3 has the fullest range — Indian sit-down restaurants, coffee chains and quick options both before and after security; there’s a 24-hour food court for red-eye arrivals and departures. Prices are airport-marked-up, so a proper meal runs well above street prices, but the Indian counters are the ones worth your money. SIM / eSIM: buying an Indian tourist SIM at the airport can be slow and paperwork-heavy — an eSIM bought before you land is the least-hassle route to get online the moment you clear immigration (useful for booking your Uber). Wi-Fi: free airport Wi-Fi is available; the sign-in can require an OTP to a working phone number, which is another argument for that pre-bought eSIM. Money: use bank ATMs over exchange booths, and always pay in rupees.

Frequently asked questions

At a glance

Before you fly

• 📊 Check what a good fare to Delhi looks like — our price-check tool shows the typical deal range so you know a bargain when you see one.
• 🧳 Baggage checker — confirm your airline’s carry-on and checked allowance before you pack.
• 🏙️ Delhi city guide — where to stay, what to eat and what’s actually worth your time in the city.