Aviation Wanderlust – 50 Airports In India That Connected Me To Beautiful Towns and Cities

Aviation Wanderlust is real! I love the sight of the aircraft, big or small; they are enchanting. I have as much interest in these modern big birds as I have in ancient history. Fortunately, I could travel and traverse distances due to availability. Airports in India helped me explore new towns and cities. Below is the list that took me on an Aviation Wanderlust trip. It is because of the UDAN scheme that this was possible. UDAN is the ‘Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik’ scheme founded by our Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modiji.  Ozar airport

I have travelled to over 50 different towns and cities that airports in India connect.

By the end of 2025, my wanderlust had taken me through 60 airports in India alone (49 in April 2021)

As the founder of ‘travel karmas’, before travelling internationally, I probably made the most boardings/landings from the previously operated airports in the cities of Hyderabad and Bangalore, earlier. located in Begumpet and HAL, respectively.

This was the time when Bengaluru was not renamed from Bangalore. Before the turn of the 21st century, there were only two major airlines that offered flight services for domestic travellers, namely ‘Indian Airlines’, our then national carrier and the savvy, cool ‘Jet Airways’!

My frequent travel began when I had to make short trips/day trips to Bengaluru for professional work. All I had to do was get to the airport, which was 3 km away from home, purchase the ticket at the counter outside and get into the NTR terminal at Begumpet airport. Those were the days when I took the humble Autorickshaw to be dropped. It was so simple and easy.

Back then, the business class flight ticket cost was less than 4k, I recall that I paid around 3.5-3.75k for one way. And about 2k for the economy class.

Both flights served an amazing breakfast, and that meant my meal was sorted. I was good to go as I was fuelled up for the day’s work ahead.

The memories created between these two airports are immense. Moments from Begumpet Airport, Hyderabad and HAL Airport, Bengaluru, get added to this humble list of airports I traversed in my #dekhoapnadesh series. Thus making the count to 60 airports as of December 2025.

Names of Airports/Places that connected me to Cities and Towns across India.

Andhra Pradesh

1. KADAPA CDP

2. TIRUPATI TIR

3. VIJAYAWADA VGA

4. VISAKHAPATNAM VTZ

Assam

5. GUWAHATI GAU

Bihar

6. PATNA PAT

Chandigarh

7. CHANDIGARH IXC

Chhattisgarh

8. RAIPUR RPR

9. BILASPUR PAB

Daman and Diu

10. DIU DIU

Delhi

11. DELHI DEL

Goa

12. DABOLIM GOI

13. MOPA GOX

GUJARAT

14. VADODARA BDQ

15. AHMEDABAD AMD

Himachal Pradesh

16. SHIMLA SLV

Jammu and Kashmir

17. JAMMU IXJ

18. SRINAGAR SXR

Jharkhand

19. RANCHI IXR

Karnataka

20. BANGALORE  HAL

21. KGIA BLR

22. MANGALORE IXE

23. MYSORE MYQ

24. BELLARY VDY

25. BELAGAVI IXG

26. SHIVAMOGGA RQY

Kerala

27. THIRUVANANTHAPURAM TRV

28. KOCHI COK

29. KOZHIKODE CCJ

30. KANNUR CNN

Madhya Pradesh

31. BHOPAL BHO

32. GWALIOR GWL

33. INDORE IDR

Maharashtra

34. AURANGABAD IXU

35. KOLHAPUR KLH

36. MUMBAI BOM

37. NAGPUR NAG

38. NANDED NDC

39. NASHIK ISK

40. PUNE PNQ

41. SINDHUDURG SDW

Odisha

42. BHUBANESWAR BBI

Puducherry

43. PUDUCHERRY PNY

Rajasthan

44. BIKANER BKB

45. JAIPUR JAI

46. JODHPUR JDH

Tamil Nadu

47. CHENNAI MAA

48. COIMBATORE CJB

49. MADURAI IXM

50. TIRUCHIRAPALLI TRZ

51. SALEM SXV

Telangana

52. HYDERABAD HYD

53. BEGUMPET BPM

Begumpet old airport

Uttar Pradesh

54. KANPUR KNU

55. LUCKNOW LKO

56. PRAYAGRAJ IXD

57. VARANASI VNS

Uttarakhand

58. DEHRADUN DED

West Bengal

59. KOLKATA CCU

60. BAGDOGRA IXB

Major Airports in India that connected me to fly to International destinations are Hyderabad, New Delhi and Mumbai. Only once could I fly from Kochi to Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok. One of the world’s oldest operating airports, ever since it opened in 1914, now serves as a significant hub for low-cost airlines. I flew with Air Asia, then operating from major Indian cities. Once, I even arrived in Kolkata while returning from Yangon in Myanmar. It goes without saying that I started my International travel from my home city, Hyderabad. The first flight was in the year 2009 from the new airport, which opened in Shamshabad the previous year. It was close to midnight, departure by Thai Airways to Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, Thailand.