Delhi Airport Taxi

Landing at Indira Gandhi International after a long-haul flight is not the moment to bargain at a kerb. A Delhi airport taxi booked with RutzIndia.com is priced before you fly: one fixed fare for the car class you choose, a chauffeur who watches your flight status, and a name board at the arrivals exit. The same car takes you back to the terminal when you leave, on the same fare card.

Delhi airport taxi fare: what a transfer costs in 2026

Delhi uses the base rate card on our fares page with no city uplift, so the numbers below are the standard India airport fares, updated for 2026. The SUV column is a Toyota Fortuner or similar; for a Fortuner on rent beyond the airport run, see that page. A transfer includes up to 40 km of driving; for longer drops each extra kilometre is added at the class per-km rate (Rs 36 for a sedan, Rs 57.6 for an Innova Crysta). Airport entry and parking fees, and any tolls on the way, are added at actual cost, and the invoice shows each one separately.

Other classes follow the same pattern: a Honda City or Verna is Rs 5,940 Pay Now to Reserve, an Ertiga Rs 4,950 Pay Now to Reserve, a Fortuner Rs 12,360 Pay Now to Reserve, a Mercedes E-Class Rs 20,640 Pay Now to Reserve and a Tempo Traveller Rs 10,740 Pay Now to Reserve for a group with luggage. Timings assume ordinary traffic; the evening peak on NH-48 and the Ring Road can double them.

Which IGI terminal, and where your chauffeur meets you

IGI has three passenger terminals, and the one printed on your ticket decides where the car goes:

• Terminal 1 sits on the Palam side of the airfield, reached from the Mehrauli-Mahipalpur road. It handles domestic flights for several low-cost carriers.
• Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 stand next to each other near NH-48 and Aerocity. T3 carries most international departures and arrivals plus many domestic flights; T2 handles domestic services. Check your airline's current allocation, because Delhi has shuffled carriers between terminals more than once.

The drive between T1 and T3 is roughly 8 to 10 km by road, so tell us the terminal when you book. If an airline moves you on the day, WhatsApp the desk and we redirect the car.

How the meet works. About two hours before landing your chauffeur's name and the car number arrive by SMS and WhatsApp. Once you clear immigration and customs (international) or baggage (domestic), walk out through the arrivals exit; the chauffeur stands in the public waiting area holding a board with your name. He then walks you to the pickup lane in the multi-level car park or forecourt, where commercial cars are allowed to load. At T3 this walk can take a few minutes with a trolley, so keep your phone on.

Flight tracking and waiting. We follow your flight number, so a delayed landing simply moves the pickup; you are never charged for the airline's delay. After touchdown you get 60 minutes of free waiting on international arrivals and 30 minutes on domestic arrivals. If you need longer (a lost bag, a long immigration queue), the extra time is billed at the hourly rate shown on your booking, and the chauffeur messages you before the meter starts.

Step by step: pickup at each IGI terminal

Terminal 3 (international and many domestic flights)

1. When the aircraft reaches the gate, switch your phone off flight mode. The chauffeur's WhatsApp message with his name and the car plate is already waiting.
2. International passengers clear immigration, collect bags from the belt shown on the screens, then walk through the green or red customs channel. Domestic passengers go straight to the baggage belts.
3. Exit through the arrivals doors into the greeting area. Your chauffeur stands in the row of pre-booked drivers holding a board with your name exactly as entered in the booking.
4. He calls or messages if he cannot see you. Stay in the greeting area rather than walking out to the road; that is where he will look.
5. Together you walk to the commercial pickup level of the car park, where the car is waiting with the boot open.

Terminal 1 (domestic low-cost carriers)

1. T1 is a separate building on the Palam side, so double-check your ticket; a car sent to T3 is a long loop away.
2. After the belts, walk out of the arrivals exit. The meeting point is just outside the doors, and the forecourt is smaller than at T3, so the walk to the car is short.
3. If you land at T1 but connect onwards from T3, the airline's inter-terminal arrangements apply; we can also book the car for the transfer at the standard Rs 3,960 Pay Now to Reserve sedan fare.

Terminal 2

T2 sits beside T3 and uses the same approach roads. The routine is the same as T3 without the immigration and customs steps.

Late-night landings: no night surcharge, same fixed fare

A large share of Delhi's international traffic lands between midnight and 5 am, when the Gulf, European and North American banks arrive. Many local operators add 25% or more for night pickups. RutzIndia.com does not: the airport fare is the same at 2 am as at 2 pm. The only things that change at night are the traffic (lighter) and the chauffeur's routine: our drivers on night airport duty come on shift rested, not at the end of a day of local runs.

For solo travellers landing late, the confirmation message includes the car number so you can match the plate before you load bags. You can share the booking with family through the same message.

Departures: when to leave for IGI

For a drop to the airport, plan backwards from the check-in cut-off:

1. International flights from T3: aim to reach the terminal three hours before departure. From South Delhi or Gurgaon, that means leaving about four hours before.
2. Domestic flights: two hours at the terminal is sensible at peak times, especially from T1 where security queues build in the morning.
3. From Noida or Ghaziabad in the evening rush, add 45 minutes for the DND Flyway or the Barapullah and Ring Road stretch.

Delhi fog between late December and January can slow roads and delay flights. On fog mornings we send the car earlier at no extra cost if you ask when booking.

Who books a Delhi airport cab with us

• Families landing with elders and heavy luggage often choose an Innova Crysta or a Tempo Traveller in Delhi so everyone and every suitcase travels together.
• Corporate guests arriving for meetings in Aerocity or Cyber City usually take a premium sedan or an E-Class from our luxury car rental in Delhi, billed to the company with a GST invoice. See corporate car rental for monthly accounts.
• Wedding guests flying in during the November to February season are often collected in batches. Pair the airport runs with wedding car rental in Delhi for the baraat day.
• NRIs and foreign visitors who want a single driver for the whole stay can extend the transfer into a local day of 8 hours / 80 km (Rs 7,200 Pay Now to Reserve in a sedan) or into a road trip.

Straight from the airport onto the highway

Plenty of travellers never enter Delhi at all. The car can leave IGI directly for Agra (about 225 km from the terminal by the Yamuna Expressway) or Jaipur (about 265 km), or head north towards Chandigarh, Haridwar and Rishikesh. A trip that starts at the airport is priced with the same rule as every other airport job: the transfer fare covers the first 40 km and each kilometre after that is added at the plain class rate. IGI to Agra therefore works out at about Rs 10,620 Pay Now to Reserve in a sedan (Rs 3,960 Pay Now to Reserve + 185 km x Rs 36) and Rs 17,470 Pay Now to Reserve in an Innova Crysta; IGI to Jaipur at about Rs 12,060 Pay Now to Reserve and Rs 19,750 Pay Now to Reserve. Starting from a city address instead, the Delhi to Agra taxi and Delhi to Jaipur taxi route fares apply (Rs 8,390 Pay Now to Reserve and Rs 10,080 Pay Now to Reserve one way in a sedan). Visitors short of time often turn the landing into a same-day Agra tour by car or the start of a Golden Triangle tour by car. For the full list of highway routes see all routes, or read about one-way taxi pricing.

If you are staying in the city, a local taxi service in Delhi or a car rental with driver in Delhi covers sightseeing, shopping and meetings, and satellite cities have their own pages for Gurgaon and Noida.

Prepaid counter, app cab, Metro or a booked car?

Delhi gives arriving passengers several options, and each suits a different traveller. The Airport Express Metro line runs from T3 to New Delhi station in about 20 minutes and is excellent for a light traveller heading to Connaught Place in daytime; it is less useful with three suitcases, a toddler or a 1 am landing. The prepaid taxi counters inside arrivals give a printed fare but no choice of car and no one waiting for you. App cabs are plentiful, yet the pickup zone for them is a separate walk and the price moves with demand, which tends to peak exactly when the big international banks land.

A pre-booked chauffeur makes most sense when any of these apply: you land at night, you travel with elders or children, you need a larger car, you want a GST invoice in a company name, or you are going straight on to Agra, Jaipur or the hills. It also removes the negotiation over luggage and the wait at the kerb, because the driver is already there when you walk out.

Side by side: the ways out of IGI

All four are legitimate choices. The table only sets out how each one works so you can pick the right one for the trip; for a solo traveller with a backpack in daylight, the Metro is hard to beat.

What the airport fare includes

Hotels, embassies and venues we cover from the airport

The IGI run is rarely just "into Delhi". Our chauffeurs regularly drive to:

• Aerocity, the hotel district a few minutes from T3, used by transit passengers and airline crews.
• Chanakyapuri and the diplomatic enclave, where embassy visitors need the exact gate number; add it in the booking notes.
• Yashobhoomi, the convention centre in Dwarka Sector 25, and Bharat Mandapam at Pragati Maidan, both busy with exhibitions and summits.
• India Expo Centre at Greater Noida, where trade fairs bring large delegations; book a Tempo Traveller for a team.
• Cyber City and Golf Course Road in Gurgaon, and Noida Sector 62 and the Film City area for IT and media offices.
• Lutyens' Delhi hotels around Janpath, Man Singh Road and Sardar Patel Marg.

For regular staff movements between the airport and offices, employee transport services set up rostered pickups, and a Mercedes car on rent suits a visiting board member. Ordinary point-to-point bookings anywhere in the country are on cab booking.

Booking, payment and what is included

Booking takes a couple of minutes on the online booker: pick the terminal, enter the flight number, choose the car class, and pay by card or UPI. You receive a confirmation straight away and the chauffeur details on the day.

Included: the car and chauffeur, fuel, up to 40 km of driving, flight tracking, the name-board meet, and the free waiting window. Not included: 5% GST, airport entry or parking fees, tolls, and waiting beyond the free window. Every car on the fleet is within four model years, is cleaned before each airport job, and carries commercial (yellow-plate) registration.

Changes and cancellation. Cancelling more than 72 hours before pickup is free. Within 72 hours we keep 10% of the fare, within 48 hours 50%, and within 24 hours or on a no-show 100%. A flight that is cancelled by the airline is a different case: tell us, and we move the booking to the new flight. Full terms are on the cancellation policy page.

Book a Delhi airport taxi

Useful official sources

Terminal allocations, baggage rules and live flight status come from the airport operator's own site at newdelhiairport.in. For planning sightseeing once you are in the city, the state tourism department's Delhi Tourism portal lists monuments, timings and events. Toll plazas and expressway information for onward drives are published by the National Highways Authority of India.