Wings India 2026 Awards: Delhi airport, AAI and Air India — full list of winners

Winners of the Wings India 2026 Awards were announced on Thursday, January 29, at the country’s premier aviation event, hosted by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in collaboration with FICCI and the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The awards recognised excellence across airports, airlines, service providers, manufacturing, innovation and state governments. Union Minister for Civil Aviation K Ram Mohan Naidu presented the awards to the winners.

Airports shine across categories

Delhi International Airport Limited was named Best Airport of the Year, while Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, won the award for Best Airport handling over 25 million passengers annually (MPPA).

Pune Airport took the top honour in the 10–25 MPPA category, and Lucknow International Airport Limited won in the 5–10 MPPA segment.

Veer Savarkar International Airport, Port Blair, was recognised as the Best Airport with under 5 MPPA, while Hollongi Airport in Itanagar won Best Airport under the RCS/UDAN scheme.

Airlines and connectivity awards

Air India Express was awarded for Domestic Connectivity, while Star Air, operated by Ghodawat Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., won for Regional/UDAN Connectivity.

In non-scheduled operations, Indo Pacific Aviation Pvt Ltd won the NSOP – Fixed Wing award, while Pawan Hans Limited received the NSOP – Helicopters honour.

Service providers and the aviation ecosystem

InterGlobe Aviation Limited was recognised as the Best Aviation Service Provider at the Wings India 2026 Awards.

In the Cargo Services category, Air India Limited and WFS (Bengaluru) Pvt Ltd were declared joint winners, acknowledging their contribution to strengthening air cargo operations and logistics infrastructure in India.

Air India SATS Airport Services Pvt. Ltd. won for Ground Services, GMR Aero Technic for MRO Services, and IndianOil Skytanking Private Limited for Fuel Services.

Air India Limited also received awards for Aviation Skills & Training, while Vman Aviation Services IFSC Pvt Ltd was named best in Aircraft Leasing. ideaForge Technology Ltd. won the Drones category.

Manufacturing, innovation and sustainability

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was honoured as Best Contributor to Atmanirbhar Bharat. Boeing India won the Ecosystem Accelerator, Airbus was recognised for Aircraft Component Manufacturing, and Carbon Light Private Limited won for Drone Component Manufacturing.

States recognised for aviation leadership

In the states category, Andhra Pradesh was awarded Best State with a Dedicated Outlook for the Aviation Sector. The award for Best State for Promotion of Aviation Ecosystem was jointly given to Telangana, Uttarakhand and Gujarat.

Assam won the award for Most Proactive State under RCS–UDAN Priority Areas, while Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were joint winners in the Most Proactive State under RCS–UDAN Non-Priority Areas category.

Karnataka and Maharashtra were jointly recognised as State Champions in Aviation.

Innovation and Sustainability

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) was named Innovation Champion, while Delhi International Airport Limited received the Sustainability Champion award.