In 1984, Indian leader Indira Gandhi, the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru (a former Indian Prime Minister), was murdered soon after arriving at this airport, and since then, the airport has been named after her.
On 23 June 1985, Air India Flight 182, which was flying on a Toronto-Montreal-London-Delhi-Mumbai route, exploded in midair, killing all of the passengers aboard.
On 12 November 1996 the airport was the scene of a disaster when a Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747, climbing out after take-off, collided with an incoming Kazakhstan Airlines plane chartered by a fashion company, causing the deaths of all aboard the two planes.
On Christmas Eve, 24 December 1999, Indian Airlines Flight 814, which had just took off from Kathmandu, Nepal to Indira Gandhi Airport was hijacked. The plane flew around different points in South Asia and Southwest Asia as officials of the government of India and the Taliban negotiate. One passenger is killed and some are released. On 31 December, 1999, the rest of the hostages on Flight 814 were freed.
No airlines use the airport as a hub, but it sees many domestic and international flights daily.
International Airlines serving the airport include: