GMR Airports FY26 income jumps 40% to INR 152 bn

Key update: income up sharply, traffic growth muted

GMR Airports reported strong momentum in total income even as passenger traffic growth stayed subdued in the January to March quarter of FY26. Total income in Q4 FY26 came in at INR 40.4 billion, up 36% year-on-year. For the full year FY26, total income rose 40% year-on-year to INR 152 billion.

Operationally, the airport operator crossed a milestone by handling more than 121 million passengers in FY26, the highest annual traffic recorded in its history. The traffic milestone came despite temporary headwinds linked to flight disruptions and a runway upgradation at Delhi Airport.

Q4 FY26 traffic: 31.7 million passengers at operated airports

On the operational front, passenger traffic at GAL operated airports rose 1% year-on-year in Q4 FY26 to 31.7 million passengers. The company clarified that this figure excludes Cebu.

In a separate business update, GMR Airports said it served approximately 32 million passengers in Q4 FY26, up 0.9% year-on-year. Domestic passenger traffic in the quarter increased 1.6% year-on-year to 24.1 million, while international passenger traffic declined 1.6% year-on-year to 7.7 million.

The company also stated that passenger traffic remained above the 10 million level every month since October 2025.

FY26 milestone: record 121.6 million passengers handled

For FY26, GMR Airports reported passenger traffic of 121,629,825, marking a 0.9% year-on-year increase. The company described it as the highest annual traffic recorded in its history.

The FY26 performance was supported by record domestic passenger traffic of 92 million, up 0.6% year-on-year. International passenger traffic grew 1.7% year-on-year to 30 million.

The numbers underline a year where volumes held up despite operational constraints, with domestic demand remaining the larger base while international traffic growth stayed modest.

What drove the muted growth: airspace disruption and Delhi runway work

GMR Airports attributed the softer traffic growth, particularly in the May 2025 to September 2025 period, to temporary disruptions in flight operations. These disruptions were linked to changed airspace conditions amid a series of continuing geopolitical events.

Another key factor cited was the Runway 10/28 upgradation at Delhi Airport for three months. The company stated that the enhanced runway reopened on September 16, 2025.

The disclosure matters because Delhi is a major contributor to overall throughput across the portfolio, and temporary capacity or routing constraints can have a visible impact on quarterly growth rates.

Monthly datapoint: May 2025 traffic and aircraft movements

GMR Airports also reported 0.8% year-on-year growth in passenger traffic to 10,018,537 in May 2025. Airport-wise, Delhi reported 6,249,600 passengers, a 4.5% year-on-year decline. Hyderabad handled 2,791,217 passengers, up 15.3% year-on-year, while Goa’s MOPA airport recorded 441,116 passengers.

Aircraft movements rose faster than passengers, increasing 6.3% year-on-year to 64,931 in May 2025. Delhi recorded 38,257 aircraft movements, while Hyderabad recorded 18,754.

Financial snapshot: Q4 FY26 and FY26 income trend

Total income growth remained the standout compared with the softer traffic increase.

Earlier quarterly context: Q1 and Q2 FY26 traffic trends

Earlier in FY26, the company had flagged a mixed traffic pattern across airports. In Q1 FY26, it reported total income of INR 33.21 billion (INR 3,321 crore), up 32% year-on-year, along with a 4% year-on-year rise in total passenger traffic at GAL owned airports to 30.1 million.

In Q2 FY26, GAL owned airports handled 27.8 million passengers. Delhi Airport handled 17.6 million passengers in Q2 FY26, down 7.5% year-on-year from 19.0 million, with the company again linking the decline to changed airspace conditions and runway upgradation. Over H1 FY26, Delhi passenger traffic was 36.7 million, down 4.3% year-on-year from 38.3 million.

Hyderabad and Goa showed growth during the same period. Hyderabad handled 7.3 million passengers in Q2 FY26, up 5.5% year-on-year, and 15.4 million in H1 FY26, up 11.3% year-on-year. Goa (Mopa) handled 1.13 million passengers in Q2 FY26, up 9.0% year-on-year, and 2.36 million in H1 FY26, up 8.1% year-on-year.

Market impact: what investors will track next

The shares of GMR Airports were set to remain in focus after the business update highlighted muted Q4 FY26 traffic growth even as the company crossed the 121 million passenger mark for FY26. For investors, the key question is how quickly traffic normalises after the runway reopening and whether international volumes recover from the Q4 decline.

One visible market reaction cited in earlier traffic updates was in May 2024, when GMR Airports Infrastructure rose 4.15% to Rs 97.80 after the company reported monthly traffic data showing a 7% year-on-year increase in May 2024 passenger traffic to over 10.8 million.

Analysis: income growth versus volume growth

The FY26 update shows a clear divergence: income growth of 40% year-on-year versus passenger traffic growth of 0.9% year-on-year. Based on the company’s disclosures, the volume softness is linked to temporary disruptions rather than a broad demand collapse, especially given record domestic passenger traffic for the year.

Management commentary in the transcript also indicated that projecting traffic is difficult, but from an existing portfolio perspective it is reasonable to assume 5% to 7% overall growth. This should be read alongside the FY26 experience, where operational constraints, rather than capacity demand alone, influenced reported growth.

Conclusion: milestone year, with execution risks still visible

GMR Airports closed FY26 with a record 121.6 million passengers and strong income growth, even though Q4 passenger growth was limited to around 1% year-on-year. The company has pointed to airspace-related disruptions and the temporary runway upgradation at Delhi Airport as key reasons for the muted traffic.

The next set of monthly traffic disclosures and subsequent quarterly updates will be important to assess whether traffic growth accelerates now that the enhanced runway reopened on September 16, 2025 and disruption effects fade.