The airport is the eighth busiest airport in India in terms of international traffic and the twenty-second busiest overall. In the fiscal year 2022–23, the airport handled around 3.5 million passengers, with a total of around 25,000 aircraft movements.
In addition to civil operations, the airport headquarters the Southern Air Command (India) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Indian Coast Guard for their operations. IAF has an exclusive apron to handle all their operations. Thiruvananthapuram Airport also caters to the Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology which carries out pilot training activities. The airport hosts Air India's Narrow body Maintenance, repair and overhaul unit – MRO consisting of twin hangars for servicing Boeing 737-type aircraft, servicing mostly Air India Express aircraft.