Airport taxi service in India

An airport taxi should be the easy part of a journey. After a long flight you want to walk out of arrivals, see your name on a board, and be in a cool car within minutes, without queuing at a prepaid counter or arguing about a meter. RutzIndia.com runs pre-booked airport transfers at the major airports of India for a fixed fare that covers any drive of up to 40 km between the terminal and your address. We track your flight, wait when it is late, and send a car that fits your luggage, whether that is one cabin bag or a family's worth of suitcases.

Airport taxi fares: what will I pay?

One price covers pickup or drop, day or night, with no surcharge for red-eye flights and no surge when a bank of flights lands together. Transfers longer than 40 km are priced by distance on the booker before you pay.

Airport transfer prices by city

Airport fares follow each city's cost factor. The table rounds to the nearest Rs 10; all figures are before 5% GST.

Travelling with a group? A Tempo Traveller airport transfer is Rs 10,740 Pay Now to Reserve at Delhi rates, and luxury cars from a Mercedes E-Class (Rs 20,640 Pay Now to Reserve) to a Toyota Vellfire (Rs 29,700 Pay Now to Reserve) are available for VIP arrivals. Every class is listed on the fares page.

Airport taxi fares by zone and locality

The fixed transfer fare covers any address within 40 km of the terminal. The table lists localities that usually fall inside that radius at each major airport, with the fare for a sedan, an Innova Crysta and a Fortuner-class SUV, rounded to the nearest Rs 10 and before GST. The booker confirms the exact distance for your address.

Addresses beyond the radius, such as Greater Noida from Delhi, Electronic City from Bengaluru, Lonavala from Mumbai, Mahabalipuram from Chennai or Munnar from Kochi, are priced as one way drops by distance. Drives between Goa's two airports and the far end of the state are also priced by distance.

Per-km fares for longer airport transfers

When the drive from the terminal is long, say Kochi airport to Munnar or Delhi IGI to Agra, the transfer is billed per kilometre at the class rate. For comparison, this table sets each class's fixed airport fare (Delhi rates) beside the per-km rate and two long-transfer examples.

All fares exclude 5% GST. Tolls, airport parking and any state entry fee are added at actual.

Pre-booked transfer, airport taxi counter or app cab?

Most Indian airports offer three ways to get into town. Each has a place:

Several airports run well-organised official taxi services; Bengaluru's, for instance, is described on the airport's own site. A pre-booked car earns its keep when you land late, carry a lot of luggage, travel with elderly relatives, or want to go straight on to another city.

How an airport pickup works

1. Book with your flight number through the booker or by WhatsApp. If you are booking for a parent or guest, give their name and mobile number.
2. We watch the flight. The chauffeur's reporting time follows the actual landing, whether the flight is early, late or diverted to another terminal.
3. You clear immigration and baggage at your own pace. Waiting is free for 60 minutes after an international arrival and 30 minutes after a domestic one, counted from touchdown. Beyond that, time is billed at the hourly rate shown on your booking.
4. Your chauffeur meets you at the arrivals exit with a name board, helps with bags and walks you to the car in the designated pickup area.
5. You pay the balance, if any, by card or UPI at the end, with airport parking and tolls listed as charged.

For drops, the car reports at your door at the agreed time and the driver unloads at the departure kerb. Most airports now allow very short stops only, so be ready with bags.

How early should you leave for the airport?

Road time to Indian airports varies hugely by hour. As a rough guide, allow for check-in and security plus these typical drive times in normal traffic, and add more in the monsoon or on festival evenings:

• Delhi: 30 to 45 minutes from Connaught Place or Gurgaon's Cyber City, often an hour or more from Noida or East Delhi at peak times.
• Mumbai: 45 minutes to well over an hour from South Mumbai depending on the Sea Link and coastal road; less from Bandra or Andheri.
• Bengaluru: about an hour from MG Road and more from Electronic City or Whitefield, as the airport sits roughly 35 to 40 km north of the centre.
• Hyderabad: about 45 minutes to an hour from HITEC City or Banjara Hills via the expressway and Outer Ring Road.
• Chennai: 30 to 45 minutes from T Nagar or Egmore, longer from the far end of OMR.

Many Indian airports also offer DigiYatra, a paperless face-recognition entry for domestic flights, which can shorten the queue at the gate; details are on the DigiYatra website.

Airport by airport

Delhi IGI

Indira Gandhi International has three terminals in use; your airline and flight decide whether you land at T1, T2 or T3, and the official Delhi Airport site shows which is which. Aerocity's hotels are minutes from the terminals, while Gurgaon and South Delhi are a short hop. See Delhi airport taxi, and for onward drives the Delhi to Agra and Delhi to Jaipur routes.

Mumbai CSMIA and Navi Mumbai

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International operates Terminal 1 at Santacruz and Terminal 2 at Sahar, and the new Navi Mumbai airport serves the eastern side of the region. Tell us the airport and terminal when booking. Details on Mumbai airport taxi; many arrivals continue straight to Pune via the expressway, see Mumbai to Pune taxi.

Bengaluru Kempegowda

Terminals 1 and 2 are served from the airport road to the north of the city; the official Bengaluru Airport site explains terminal allocation. Our Bangalore airport taxi page covers Whitefield, Electronic City and ORR drops, and arrivals often head on to Mysore or Coorg.

Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi International

The airport at Shamshabad, south of the city, is linked by an elevated expressway and the Outer Ring Road; flight information is on the Hyderabad Airport website. See Hyderabad airport taxi.

Chennai

Chennai's airport at Meenambakkam is close to the city on GST Road, making it one of the shorter metro transfers. See Chennai airport taxi and the coastal drive to Pondicherry.

Goa: Dabolim and Mopa

Goa has two airports: Dabolim near Vasco in the centre-south and Manohar International at Mopa in the far north. Picking the wrong one when booking a taxi is a common and costly mistake, so double-check your ticket. North Goa beach hotels tend to be closer to Mopa and South Goa resorts to Dabolim. See Goa airport taxi and taxi service in Goa.

Kochi CIAL

Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery lies north of Ernakulam, and Fort Kochi is a longer drive beyond the city. Many arrivals head straight up to Munnar, about three and a half to four hours away, or to the backwaters; the CIAL website has terminal details. See Kochi airport taxi and our Kerala tour by car.

Amritsar

Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International is only a short drive from the Golden Temple, which makes it a natural first stop for pilgrims and NRI families from the Punjab diaspora. See Amritsar airport taxi and taxi service in Amritsar.

Landing late at night

A large share of international flights into Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru arrive between midnight and 5 am. That is exactly when a pre-booked airport cab earns its keep: the prepaid counters have queues, app cars are scarce and fares climb. With a booking, the fare is the one you agreed, the chauffeur is already waiting when you clear customs, and the desk is reachable on WhatsApp throughout. If your hotel has a late check-in cut-off, tell us and the driver will call ahead from the car. Travellers heading straight on to another city can book a one way drop from the terminal instead, so there is no need for an airport hotel.

Airport transfers in all 27 cities

Each city page below includes airport notes, the rail stations we serve and local packages. Fares are the fixed sedan and Innova transfer for that city, rounded to the nearest Rs 10 and before GST.

Airports that serve more than one state

A few airport runs cross a state line even though they feel local, and that affects what can appear on the bill. Delhi's IGI serves Gurgaon in Haryana and Noida in Uttar Pradesh; Chandigarh's airport sits on the Mohali side, in Punjab; Dehradun's Jolly Grant airport is the gateway for Rishikesh and Haridwar but also for travellers coming up from Delhi. Taxis on these runs operate on tourist permits, and under the 2023 all-India permit rules the operator pays the permit fee centrally, so most short airport transfers involve nothing more than tolls. Where a state or city does collect an entry fee, or where the airport charges for parking or for entry to a pickup zone, the amount is shown on your bill as paid, with the receipt. For Chennai, where the airport is run by the Airports Authority of India, terminal and parking information is on the AAI Chennai airport page.

Which car for an airport transfer?

Luggage decides more than headcount. A sedan comfortably fits two large suitcases and two cabin bags. With three or four large bags, or golf clubs, book an Innova Crysta. Families returning from abroad with six or more bags often take two cars or a Tempo Traveller. For senior executives, visiting dignitaries or a bride and groom arriving for their wedding, choose from our luxury car rental range. Every car is within four model years.

Oversized luggage, wheelchairs and special items

Airport runs throw up requests that a regular city taxi never sees, and most are easy with a little notice:

• Golf bags and ski or surf gear. A golf bag goes across the boot of an Innova or an SUV but not a compact sedan with other suitcases. Surfboards bound for Goa or long ski bags from a Gulmarg trip need a Tempo Traveller or a car with the rear seats folded; tell us the length.
• Wheelchairs and reduced mobility. Airlines bring passengers who need assistance to the arrivals exit, where our chauffeur waits. A sedan's seat height is the easiest to transfer into, and a folding wheelchair fits in its boot.
• Infants and prams. A pram and a car seat take a full sedan boot, so families with two large suitcases as well should book an Innova.
• Musical instruments and equipment cases. Bands, film crews and conference exhibitors often need a Tempo Traveller or an Urbania with seats left empty for cases.
• Pets. Tell us before booking; we will confirm whether a suitable car and driver are available for your date.

Anything that affects the choice of vehicle belongs in the booking notes. Switching to a bigger car at the kerb is rarely possible at a busy terminal.

Long airport transfers and onward journeys

The fixed airport fare covers 40 km. Beyond that, a transfer is priced by distance at the per-km rate of your car, like any one way taxi. Common examples are Dehradun's Jolly Grant airport to Rishikesh or Mussoorie, Kochi to Munnar, Delhi IGI to Agra or Vrindavan, and Bengaluru to Mysore. Tolls, interstate permits and parking are always billed at actual cost. If you want the car to stay with you after landing, book a car rental with driver package instead; multi-day use is then billed on at least 250 km per calendar day outside the city, with a driver night allowance of Rs 1,500 for each night away.

NRIs, corporates and group arrivals

NRIs landing at midnight for a family wedding, companies flying in delegations for a conference, and wedding planners receiving guests over three days all need the same thing: a coordinated set of pickups with no one left waiting. Share the passenger list and flight numbers and the desk assigns cars and drivers to each arrival, with a single invoice at the end. Our NRI car hire and corporate car rental pages explain overseas card payments and GST invoicing.

Booking and cancellation

Pay by UPI or card when you book. Businesses can add a GSTIN for a tax invoice. You may cancel free of charge until 72 hours before pickup; after that the charge is 10% within 72 hours, 50% within 48 hours and the full fare within 24 hours or if the passenger does not show. Flight delays are not no-shows: if your flight is late, we wait. The complete terms are on our cancellation policy page.

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