Airports Authority of India (AAI) was constituted by an Act of Parliament and came into being on 1st April 1995 by merging erstwhile National Airports Authority and International Airports  Authority of India. The merger brought into existence a single Organization entrusted with the responsibility of creating, upgrading, maintaining and managing civil aviation infrastructure both on the ground and air space in the country.

AAI manages 125 airports, which include 18 International Airport, 07 Customs Airports, 78 Domestic Airports and 26 Civil Enclaves at Defense airfields. AAI provides air navigation services over 2.8 million square nautical miles of air space. During the year 2013-14, AAI    handled aircraft movement of 1536.60 Thousand [International 335.95 & Domestic 1200.65],    Passengers handled 168.91 Million [International 46.62 & Domestic 122.29] and the cargo handled 2279.14 thousand MT [International 1443.04 & Domestic 836.10].

The functions of AAI are as follows:

• Design, Development, Operation and Maintenance of international and domestic airports and civil enclaves.
• Control and Management of the Indian airspace extending beyond the territorial limits of the country, as accepted by ICAO.
• Construction, Modification and Management of passenger terminals.
• Development and Management of cargo terminals at international and domestic airports.
• Provision of passenger facilities and information system at the passenger terminals at airports.
• Expansion and strengthening of operation area, viz. Runways, Aprons, Taxiway etc.
• Provision of visual aids.
• Provision of Communication and Navigation aids, viz. ILS, DVOR, DME, Radar etc.