Indian airports are rapidly transforming into lucrative retail hubs, attracting a diverse array of brands and becoming a significant growth engine for the country's retail sector, driven by expanding aviation infrastructure and increasing passenger traffic.
Key Points
- Indian airports are emerging as crucial growth drivers for the retail sector, attracting brands from various consumer segments.
- The expansion of airports in Tier-II cities and secondary metros, coupled with robust domestic tourism, is fuelling this retail boom.
- Brands like The Body Shop and DailyObjects are experiencing significant growth in airport retail and are actively expanding their presence.
- Airports are seen as 'new high streets' for luxury and premium shoppers, offering a highly intent-driven audience.
- The development of secondary airports is expected to further catalyse the sector, expanding the national retail footprint and boosting per-passenger spending.
Indian airports are increasingly becoming a new avenue of growth for the country's retail sector, as brands across consumer segments queue up to open shop at these locations.
The opening of airports in Tier-II cities, along with secondary airports coming up in metros such as Mumbai and the DelhiNational Capital Region, coupled with strong domestic tourism momentum, has given wings to the retail segment.
Companies are recalibrating strategies to tap this growing consumer cohort.
Brands Capitalise on Transit Retail
"Travel retail is a part of our overall retail ecosystem in India, enabling us to engage with customers in transit environments such as airports.
"It allows us to present our product portfolio, including gifting and travelfriendly formats, to a diverse set of customers," said Vishal Chaturvedi, group chief revenue officer at personal care giant The Body Shop.
The brand, with seven stores across airport locations in India, has seen double-digit growth in this segment and is actively looking to open more stores to capitalise on the momentum.
For lifestyle tech brand DailyObjects, travel retail is set to become a core growth engine over the next two years.
"Airports give us a highly intent-driven, premium audience that is already in an 'on-the-move, device-heavy, always-on' mindset, which is exactly where our design-led everyday essentials add value to the broader lifestyle tech ecosystem," said Pankaj Garg, cofounder and chief executive officer (CEO).
The company expects travel retail to contribute close to 12–15 per cent of its offline revenue and 6–8 per cent of overall brand revenue over the next two years.
With outposts at Mumbai's T2 (domestic terminal) and Guwahati International Airport, it is rolling out new stores at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport T2, as well as Chennai and Pune airports.
Airports as New High Streets
"As travel activity continues to rise, airports have become the new high streets and key catchments for luxury shoppers," said a retailer.
Fashion retail house Brand Concepts, which houses brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and United Colors of Benetton, has made high-intent, premium consumers a focus of its 2026 growth strategy.
"The expansion of aviation infrastructure in India presents strong opportunities for travel retail.
"We are actively evaluating emerging airport developments as part of our expansion strategy, with a focus on high-visibility locations that line up with our premium positioning," said cofounder Abhinav Kumar of Brand Concepts, adding that the company has opened four travel retail stores in the past six months.
A clear premiumisation tailwind is visible across the broader retail sector.
The country's retail real estate market recorded approximately 8.9 million square feet of absorption in 2025, according to real estate consultancy CBRE.
"Airports are rapidly evolving into high-velocity gateways for curated retail, driven by captive footfall and rising passenger dwell times.
"Globally, hubs such as Singapore Changi and Dubai International demonstrate how sustained infrastructure investments can transform airports into high-yield consumption centres, where retail dominates non-aeronautical revenues," said Anshuman Magazine, chairman and CEO (India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa) at CBRE.
Impact of Secondary Airports
In India, the emergence of secondary airports is likely to be catalytic for the sector.
"These assets not only expand the national retail footprint but also benefit from efficient passenger flows and lower congestion, which may translate into higher per-passenger retail spending," he added.
As domestic retailers and direct-toconsumer brands push for omnichannel expansion, travel retail is expected to become a nonnegotiable part of their go-tomarket strategies.
Leather goods maker Da Milano also sees strong potential in the development of secondary airports across key cities.
"As air travel continues to grow in India, these locations present new opportunities to reach evolving consumer segments.
"We are actively evaluating such opportunities and plan to expand selectively, ensuring that each location aligns with our brand positioning and customer profile," said founder Sahil Malik.
