Aviation Wanderlust – 60 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

Aviation Wanderlust – INDIA

I have travelled to over 60 different towns and cities that airports in India connect.

By the end of summer of 2026, my wanderlust had taken me through over 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 61 airports as of May 2026.

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

5. RAJAMUNDRY RJA

Assam

6. GUWAHATI GAU

Bihar

7. PATNA PAT

Chandigarh

8. CHANDIGARH IXC

Chhattisgarh

9. RAIPUR RPR

10. BILASPUR PAB

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

27. HUBBALLI HBX

Kerala

28. THIRUVANANTHAPURAM TRV

29. KOCHI COK

30. KOZHIKODE CCJ

31. KANNUR CNN

Madhya Pradesh

32. BHOPAL BHO

33. GWALIOR GWL

34. INDORE IDR

Maharashtra

35. AURANGABAD IXU

36. KOLHAPUR KLH

37. MUMBAI BOM

38. NAGPUR NAG

39. NANDED NDC

40. NASHIK ISK

41. PUNE PNQ

42. SINDHUDURG SDW

43. JALGAON JLG

Odisha

44. BHUBANESWAR BBI

Puducherry

45. PUDUCHERRY PNY

Rajasthan

46. BIKANER BKB

47. JAIPUR JAI

48. JODHPUR JDH

Tamil Nadu

49. CHENNAI MAA

50. COIMBATORE CJB

51. MADURAI IXM

52. TIRUCHIRAPALLI TRZ

53. SALEM SXV

Telangana

54. HYDERABAD HYD

55. BEGUMPET BPM

Begumpet old airport

Uttar Pradesh

56. KANPUR KNU

57. LUCKNOW LKO

58. PRAYAGRAJ IXD

59. VARANASI VNS

Uttarakhand

60. DEHRADUN DED

West Bengal

61. KOLKATA CCU

62. 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. Don Mueang is 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.