The airport, which was earlier known as Palam Airport, was built around the second world war and served as an Air Force Station for the Indian Air Force. Passenger operations were later shifted to the airport from Safdarjung Airport in 1962 due to an increase in traffic. Palam Airport had a peak capacity of around 1300 passengers per hour

Owing to an increase in air traffic in the 70s, an additional terminal with nearly four times the area of the old Palam terminal was constructed. With the inauguration of a new international terminal (Terminal 2), shaped like a trapezoid on 2 May 1986, the airport was renamed as Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. The trapezoid terminal (international) has nine jet bridges.