We recommend at least 1½ hours for a comfortable connection at Indira Gandhi International. The minimum connection time is 60 minutes for domestic flights and 75 minutes for international flights. Transit between terminals takes up to 60 minutes.

Domestic-to-Domestic: 60 min. Domestic-to-International: 90 min. International-to-Domestic: 90 min. International-to-International: 75 min. These are the shortest layovers airlines will sell at Indira Gandhi International.

Delhi's IGI Airport is a sprawling three-terminal complex where domestic and international operations are split across buildings several kilometers apart, making tight connections risky. Air India and IndiGo dominate traffic, and while T3 itself is efficient for same-terminal transfers, any connection requiring a shuttle between T1 and T3 needs generous buffer time. Passengers connecting between Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 must take a free inter-terminal shuttle bus that takes 20-30 minutes depending on traffic and boarding time, followed by a fresh security check on arrival. Within Terminal 3 itself, international-to-domestic or domestic-to-international transfers involve walking through immigration/customs-adjacent corridors but no shuttle is needed, cutting transfer time significantly.

Still insufficient for even a same-terminal domestic connection at Delhi's scale. See full 30 min guide →

Cuts it close even for the fastest same-terminal domestic-domestic transfer under ideal conditions. See full 45 min guide →

Meets the domestic-domestic MCT exactly but is too tight for anything involving T1-T3 shuttle transfer. See full 1 hr guide →

Comfortable for domestic-domestic but still tight for international connections requiring immigration and customs. See full 1¼ hr guide →

Matches the domestic-international and international-domestic MCT, giving adequate buffer for most transfers. See full 1½ hr guide →

Comfortable for any connection type, including a T1-T3 shuttle transfer with re-screening. See full 2 hr guide →

Ample time even during the busy overnight international rush. See full 2½ hr guide →

Very safe buffer, allowing for shuttle delays, long immigration lines, or gate changes. See full 3 hr guide →

Excessive for a scheduled connection but useful if flights are delayed or terminal changes are unexpected. See full 4 hr guide →