Airlines of India
Indian domestic scheduled airlines carried around 152 million passengers in 2023 registering a growth of around 23 % over the previous year (ca 123 m in '22) and roughly 5 % more than the number of passengers carried in 2019 (144 m). Domestic passenger volumes for the first seven months of 2024 witnessed a year-over-year growth rate of 4.8 % (105.5 m and 100.6 m passengers for Jan thru Aug '24 and '23 respectively). All restrictions relating to a cap in the number of domestic flights permitted were removed in Oct '21.
Announced/Planned New Airline/Air Taxi/Air Freight Operators |
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Jettwings Airways |
Jettwings Airways, a possible new entrant in the Indian civil aviation market, had announced in Jun '23 receival of a NOC for the operation of scheduled regional air routes in East and Northeast India under the UDAN Regional Connectivity Scheme. The operator would use Guwahati as its base and some reports suggest the Embraer E-series regional jet would be the choice of equipment. According to recent news reports, the airline plans to fly from Guwahati to Cooch Behar, Rupsi, Bagdogra and Kolkata later in '24. |
Shankh Air |
Shankh Air, a Uttar Pradesh based startup airline plans to have hubs at the upcoming Jewar Int'l airport in Noida and Lucknow. The airline is reportedly in the process of acquiring a NOC paving the way for a possible commercial in the near future. |
Spirit Air |
Spirit Air, a Bengaluru based commuter airline operator, has signed a Letter of Intent with aircraft manufacturer Britten-Norman for six BN2T-4S Islander turboprop regional commuter aircraft. The rugged and versatile aircraft is configured to transport nine passengers. |
Scheduled Operators |
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Air India |
Following a major divestment/restructuring plan for Air India Tata Sons (Tata Group was the original founder of Air India prior to its nationalisation in 1953) took over Air India and Air India Express in a deal worth around ₹ 180 bn incl. a substantial amount of debt (₹ 150 bn) to be cleared. The handover of Air India (incl. Air India Express and 50 % ownership in SATS, a ground handling company) from the Gov't of India to the Tata Group was completed in Jan '22. Announced in Nov '22, Air India and Vistara will be merged into a single airline entity with Singapore Airlines holding 25.1 per cent stake (investment ca ₹ 20 bn) while the Tata Group retains a 74.9 per cent stake post merger. The merger has been approved and is expected to be completed by end '24. As part of its expansion and modernisation plans, Air India finalized at the Paris Air Show '23 its earlier announced order for 470 narrow and widebody passenger aircraft incl. 140 Airbus A320neo, 70 Airbus A321neo, six Airbus A350-900, 34 Airbus A350-1000, 190 Boeing 737 MAX 8/10 (with options for up to 50 additional B737 MAX aircraft), 20 Boeing 787 Dreamliners (with options for up to 20 additional Boeing 787 aircraft), and 10 Boeing 777X aircraft. Deliveries commenced in Dec '23 while delivery of all aircraft is expected to take place over the next eight or so years. Air India's new branding (incl. aircraft livery) was unveiled in Aug '23. Air India took delivery of its first Airbus A350 in Dec '23 featuring the new livery. |
Air India Express |
The merging of Air India Express with AIX Connect (AirAsia India) was completed in Oct '24. |
Akasa Air |
Akasa Air commenced scheduled air services in Aug '22 with the first route pairs being Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Bengaluru-Kochi, Bengaluru-Mumbai and Mumbai-Chennai, The expanding route network covers 27 cities (incl. five international destinations) as of Aug '24 served by over 900 weekly flights. The first international route to be served is Mumbai to Doha, launched in Mar '24. The airline received a no-objection certificate from the Ministry of Civil Aviation and DGCA in Oct '21 and had placed an order for 72 Boeing 737 MAX series 8 and 8-200 high density jet airliners (fitted with CFM LEAP-1B power plants) in Nov '21. A further four Boeing 737-8 aircraft were ordered at the Paris Air Show in Jun '23. Akasa Air received its first aircraft in Jun '22 with a further 23 Boeing 737 MAX jets inducted between Jul '22 and Feb '24. The airline place an order in Jan '24 for a further 150 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft for delivery through 2032. The airline plans to operate a fleet of 76 aircraft by mid-2027. Akasa Air carried roughly 6.2 m passengers in '23. |
Alliance Air |
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FLY91 |
FLY91 has announced plans to commence a few regional air services on Mar 18 '24 utilizing ATR 72-600 turboprop aircraft, the first of which was delivered in Jan '24. The airline received a NOC (No Objection Certificate) in Apr '23. Ten UDAN RCS routes have been allocated to airline which include the following destinations: Agatti, Bengaluru, Goa/Manohar, Hyderabad, Jalgaon, Nanded, Pune and Sindhudurg. The first routes to be served from Mar '24 include Goa/Manohar, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Sindhudurg while Agatti and Jalgaon will be served wef Apr 18. |
Flybig |
Flybig operated a regional air service network covering 14 cities/towns, mainly in Northeast and Central India using ATR-72 and DHC-6 Twin Otter turboprop aircraft. The number of air services and routes decreased significantly after the airline surrendered its ATR-72 aircraft. As for the Twin Otters, the airline had signed a LOI with De Havilland Aircraft of Canada in Mar '22 for the procurement of up to 10 Viking Air Twin Otters, two of which are currently in operation. Flybig carried 210 000 passengers in 2023 although the end of the year saw a significant fall in passengers. Flybig's air services in the northeast were suspended in Nov '23 with the ATR aircraft no longer in operation. The airline, however, continues to operate Twin Otter air services incl. Bhatinda to Hindon and has launched new routes within Uttar Pradesh incl Aligarh to Lucknow to be followed by flights to Azamgarh, Shravasti and Chitrakoot (Madhya Pradesh). |
IndiaOne Air |
Ahmedabad based IndiaOne Air was granted an Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) by DGCA in Jun '22. The airline operates regional air services from Bhubaneswar to various destinations in eastern India incl. Utkela, Jeypore, Visakhapatnam, Jamshedpur, Cooch Behar and Kolkata with two Cessna Caravan 208B single-engine turboprop aircraft. The airline carried around 19 500 passengers in 2023. |
IndiGo |
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SpiceJet |
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Star Air |
Star Air flies to Ahmedabad, Ajmer, Belagavi, Bengaluru, Bhuj, Bidar, Hubballi, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Jamnagar, Jodhpur, Kalaburagi, Kolhapur, Mumbai, Nagpur, Surat and Tirupati. The airline's fleet includes five 50-seater Embraer E145 regional jets and three Embraer E175 regional jets. Star Air carried 330 000 passengers in 2023. |
Vistara |
Vistara flies to 32 and 18 destinations in India and overseas respectively and operates over 300 daily flights with a fleet of Airbus A320/321 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The airline commenced international services in Aug '19. It's main hub is at Delhi IGIA. Vistara carried approx. 15.9 million (13.8 m and 2.1 m passengers on domestic and international services respectively) passengers in 2023. In conjunction with Vistara's merger with Air India, flights under the Vistara brand be operate until Nov 11. |
Defunct/Inoperative Operators |
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| Air Deccan (Simplifly Deccan, Kingfisher Red) |
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| AirAsia India |
AirAsia India, which is currently being merged into Air India Express, operated flights to 21 destinations in India incl. Amritsar, Bagdogra, Bengaluru (hub), Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Imphal, Indore, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Nagpur, Ranchi, Pune, Srinagar, Surat and Vizag carrying almost 7.7 million passengers in 2022. The merger process of AirAsia India with Air India Express is underway and is expected to completed in '24. |
| Air Carnival |
Air Carnival, a Coimbatore based airline, operated a few regional services within South India. The airline ceased operations in April 2017. |
| Air Costa |
A regional airline based in Vijayawada launched commercial service in Oct 2013 with flights connecting the following eight destinations in India: Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Tirupati, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada. The airline operated some 16 daily flights until operations ceased in March 2017. |
| Air Pegasus |
Air Pegasus operated regional flights within South India from its base at Bengaluru Airport. The airline carried 117 000 passengers in 2015 but had its flying license suspended in Nov '16. |
| Go First |
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| Indian Airlines |
Indian (earlier Indian Airlines) was a major government owned airline providing an extensive domestic air network. Indian carried approx. 6.6 million passengers in 2008 (770,000 in Oct '09) while total revenues amounted to ₹60.5 bn in 2005-06. Indian operated upto 325 daily flights and carried approx. 1.7 million passengers on its international routes.
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| Jet Airways |
Above pic: A Jet Airways B737 at Mumbai's Sahar Airport Terminal IB, used by private airlines. |
| JetKonnect (Jet Airways) |
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| Kingfisher Airlines |
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| MDLR Airlines |
Gurgaon-based MDLR Airlines offered flights between from Delhi to Chandigarh, Kullu, Ranchi, Lucknow, Kolkata and Goa. MDLR's fleet comprised of tthree British Aerospace Avro RJ70 jet aircraft, the only Avro jets (RJ70) ever to be operated by an Indian carrier. The 70-seater aircraft were configured in a two class layout, 6 business and 64 in economy class. |
| Paramount Airways |
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| TruJet | Hyderabad based TruJet which earlier on operated flights to a slew of destinations incl. Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kadapa, Goa, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaisalmer, Jalgaon, Kandla, Kolhapur, Mumbai, Mysuru, Nanded, Nasik, Probandar, Rajamahendravaram, Salem, Tirupati, Vidyanagar (Jindal Vijyanagar) and Vijayawada. The airline carried 376 000 and 766 000 passengers in 2020 and 2019 respectively. Air services were more or less non-existant by Q1/22 and thereafter. |
| Zoom Air | Zoom Air operated earlier on a few regional routes using 50-seater Bombardier CRJ200 jet aircraft. The airline carried approx. 27 000 passengers during 2017/18. The airline was grounded in mid-2018 but is reported to have introduced a flight service between Delhi and Agra in 2019. The airline is reported to be facing an insolvency proceeding as of Apr '22. |
All-Cargo/Couries Operators |
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| Blue Dart Aviation Ltd. |
Blue Dart Aviation's fleet consists of two Boeing 737-800 and six Boeing 757-200 freighter aircraft. Air freighter services connect seven major cities in India on a daily basis and Guwahati is expected to be served within '23. |
| Quikjet Airlines |
Quikjet Airlines operates Boeing 737-800 freighter service to Hyderabad, Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai. |
| Pradhaan Air Express |
Pradhaan Air Express received a passenger-to-freighter converted Airbus A320-200P2F jet in Jul '22 making the aircraft the first converted A320 freighter in the world. Freighter services commenced in Oct '22. |
| SpiceXpress | SpiceXpress operates freighter air services with a fleet of three Boeing 737-700F freighters. |
Non-scheduled/Miscellaneous/Seaplane Operators |
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| Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd. |
Pawan Hans operates a fleet of 42 helicopters comprising of 17 Dauphin SA365N18, 14 Dauphin AS 365N3, 3 Bell 206L4, 3 Bell 407, 2 AS 350 B3 and 3 Mil Mi-172. Jal Hans is a seaplane service operating a Cessna 208A in the Andaman Islands. Revenues amounted to ₹ 4.6 billion in 2017-18. |
| Maritime Energy Heli Air Services Pvt Ltd. (MEHAIR) | MEHAIR operates intra-island amphibian air services in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The company has placed an order for ten Jekta PHA-ZE 100 electric amphibian aircraft with options for 40 more. Deliveries of the aircraft are expected to begin in 2029. |
| Deccan Aviation Pvt. Ltd. |
Offers helicopter charter services. Deccan Aviation's chopper fleet includes of 5 Bell 206, 1 Bell 212, 2 Bell 407, 2 Ecurueil AS 355, 1 Eurocopter AS355F2 helicopters and two fixed wing single turboprop Pilatus PC-12 aircraft. The company launched in 2003 India's first low-cost regional airline, Air Deccan (see Simplifly Deccan above).. |
| Kerala Seaplane | |
| Seabird Seaplane | |
| Oberoi Aviation |
Operates one Hawker 125-700B executive jet and one King Air C-90A turbo-prop. |
| Mesco Airlines |
Operates two Ecureil and one M-172 helicopter. |
| Million Air |
Million Air offers a fleet of three helicopters and one Cessna Citation aircraft for charter. |
| Trans Bharat Aviation |
Operates 2 Beech 99, one Piper Seneca-IV aircraft, 2 Bell 206 and one Bell 407 helicopter |
| Taj Air |
Fleet includes two Falcon 2000 jets. |
| UB Air |
UB Air has a fleet of two Bell 212s and one Alouette helicopter. |
| Orient Flights |
A Chennai based air charter service provider with a fleet of Piper Seneca III, Beechcraft King Air and Beechjet 400 |
| United Helicharters Pvt. Ltd. |
A Chennai based air charter service provider with a fleet of 4 Bell 212, 2 Bell 412 and 2 Sikorsky S76 helicopters. |
| Club One Air |
Provides fractional aircraft ownership with a fleet five Cessna Citation Excel's and Citation CII's, three Eurocopter EC135's and one turboprop. |
| Himalayan Heli Services |
Specializes in mountain flying with a chopper fleet of two Cheetah/SA 315B and one Chetak SA 316 B. |
| Deccan Express Logistics |
India's newest freighter operator under the brand Deccan 360 plans to fly (wef May 27) 5xweekly on a route covering Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hong Kong and Dubai with Airbus A310F equipment. The company also plans to acquire smaller capacity ATR aricraft for domestic cargo operations. |
¹ Provisional data |
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Air India's fleet includes Airbus A350, Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, Boeing 777 and Airbus A319/A320/A321 aircraft flying to destinations across four continents extending from San Francisco in the west, Copenhagen in the north, Tokyo in the east and Melbourne in the south. Air India's total net revenue amounted to ₹ 198 billion during 2021-22 with a net loss of ₹ 96 bn. Air India carried approx. 22.4 million (14.3 m and 8.1 m passengers on domestic and international services respectively) passengers in 2023.
Air India's low cost airline subsidiary, Air India Express, operates ca 380 daily flights to 32 Indian cities and 14 international destinations incl. Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Bahrain, Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Kuwait, Muscat, Ras Al Khaimah, Riyadh, Salalah, Sharjah and Singapore with a fleet of over 80 Boeing 737-800 and Airbus A320 aircraft. The airline carried over 5.2 million passengers in 2023 out of which 4.75 m passengers boarded international flights and 0.48 m passengers flew on domestic routes.
Airline Allied Services Ltd. was formed in 1983 as an Indian Airlines subsidiary. Alliance Air (brand name) flight operations began in 1996 and its current fleet includes ATR-42, ATR-72 and Dornier 228 (Hindustan 228) turboprop aircraft. Alliance Air began operating the new generation Hindustan 228 aircraft in Apr '22. Alliance Air carried approx. 1.64 million domestic and 38 000 international passengers in 2023.
IndiGo, India's largest airline and the eighth largest in the world based on the number of weekly seats available (1.44 m in early Jan '21), operates a growing fleet of roughly 350 Airbus A320/A321 and ATR72 turboprop aircraft. Indigo carried approx. 103 million (91.9 m and 11.2 m passengers on domestic and international services respectively) passengers in 2023. The airline operates approx. 2 000 daily flights covering 88 domestic and 33 international destinations. IndiGo placed large orders for a total of 430 A320neo jets in 2011 and 2014, deliveries of which commenced in March 2016. Later on 25 of the ordered Airbus A320neo aircraft were converted to Airbus A321neo jets. In Nov 2018 the airline converted a further 125 units of the earlier ordered Airbus A320neo aircraft to the higher capacity and longer range Airbus A321neo aircraft. The first Airbus A321neo jet was delivered in late '18 and delivery of all the 430 ordered Airbus jets is estimated to be completed by the mid-2020's. IndiGo's orderbook also includes up to 50 ATR72-600 turboprop aircraft for regional routes.
SpiceJet flies to 48 Indian and international destinations. The airline carried around 10.2 m passengers in total in 2023 of which 8.4 m and 1.8 m passengers were served on domestic and international routes respectively and as of Nov '23 operates around 250 daily flights. SpiceJet operates a fleet of Boeing 737-700/800/900ER/MAX 10 and Bombardier Q400 NextGen turboprop aircraft. Spicejet placed an order for 20 (+20 optional) Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft in Jun '17 for which delivery commenced in Oct '18. Spicejet also ordered 50 (incl. purchase rights for 25 Q400s) Bombardier Q400 turboprops in Sep '17. These aircraft are configured with 90 seats.
Simplifly Deccan (earlier Air Deccan), later on rebranded as Kingfisher Red, was India's pioneering low-cost carrier when launched in 2003. The airline operated a large fleet of ATR-42-320/500 / ATR-72-212A series turbo-props and Airbus A320 aircraft.
Go First (previously GoAir), promoted by the Wadia Group, operated approx. 300 daily flights to 36 destinations prior to suspension of all air services in May '23. Go First's fleet consisted of Airbus A320-200/neo aircraft and the airline carried 10.9 m passengers on domestic routes in 2022. Go First launched international operations with air services to Phuket and Malé in Oct '18.
Jet Airways' fleet included long-range widebodied Boeing 777, Airbus A330-203s, Boeing 737s (700-, 800-, 900-series and MAX 8) and ATR-72-212A/500's turbo-props. Total revenues of the airline amounted to ₹ 252 billion (net loss ca ₹ 6 bn) while 29.9 million revenue passengers (incl. approx. 8.5 million passengers on international routes) were carried during 2017-18. Cargo airlifted totalled 220 000 tons during 2015/16. Jet Airways acquired Air Sahara in April 2007 and subsequently renamed the 100 per cent subsidiary as Jet Lite. 
Jet Airways acquired the ertswhile Air Sahara in April 2007 and renamed it as JetLite which was rebranded in 2012 to JetKonnect. JetKonnect has now integrated with Jet Airways.
Kingfisher Airlines, one of India's major airlines, suspended all flight operations in Oct '12.
A cabin view of a Kingfisher ATR-72 turboprop. ATR aircraft plied on shorter low-density routes covering mainly tourist destinations and tier-2 and 3 cities.
The meals served on Kingfisher Airlines flights were tasty and hot meals were served even on shorter flights. A nice touch is the printed menu served to all passengers.
Paramount, a regional airline, was headquarted in Chennai and served upto 50 daily flights, mainly to destinations located in South India. Paramount's fleet included Brazilian 70-seater Embraer 170 regional jets.