 Varanasi is served by Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport , which is approximately 26 km ( 16 mi ) from the city centre in Babatpur . The airport inaugurated a new terminal in 2010 , and it was granted international airport status on 4 October 2012 . Air India , Buddha Air , Jet Airways , Jet Konnect , IndiGo , and SpiceJet operate flights from Varanasi to Delhi , Gaya , Kathmandu , Khajuraho , Sharjah , Lucknow , Mumbai , Hyderabad , Bangalore , and Kolkata . Over 330 @,@ 000 passengers pass through the airport each year . 
