The stupendous growth in the civil aviation sector has made it inevitable for India to develop state of the art airports. It has become the need of the hour to develop world class airports in shortest possible time and with the available resources. Public finances alone are insufficient to fund the infrastructure needed to support the tremendous growth in passenger and cargo movements across the nation. There is a need to adopt innovative ways and lure the private players to participate in the growth process through Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. Thus, this study is undertaken to understand the working of PPP model in the aviation sector through the experience of Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL). DIAL is one among the first airports to be privatized under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model in India. This study uses descriptive case research method to analyze and highlight the journey of DIAL to be a world class airport catering close to 35% of the total passenger movements in India, and one among the top 30 busiest airports in the world. Further, it discusses the key struggles of DIAL and the lessons learnt from the DIAL experience.