Air-India's fleet includes Boeing 747-400's/337B Combis, Boeing 777-200 and 300 series, Airbus A310-300s and Airbus A330-200 aircraft flying to destinations across four continents extending from Tokyo in the east to Los Angeles in the west. Air-India earned a total revenue of Rs 87.5¹ bn and carried 4.86¹ million passengers in the year ending March 2006 and 105 000 tons of freight during the year ending March 2005. Air-India has firmed orders for 8 Boeing 777-200LR, 15 Boeing 777-300ER and 27 Boeing 787 Dreamliners to cater to its fleet expansion plans in the coming years. Air-India and Indian are in the process of being merged. The new airline bears the name Air-India. Air-India is gradually phasing-out some of its A310 aircraft and converting them into freighter aircraft.

Above pic: An Air-India Airbus A310-300 at Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok international airport.

Air-India's low cost airline subsidiary, Air-India Express, flies to Dubai, Doha, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Muscat, Salalah, Sharjah, Colombo and Singapore with a fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The airline carried 1.8 million passengers in 2007-08 and operates over 150 flights a week to 25 destinations.

Above pic: An Air India Express Boeing 737-800 at Chennai Airport.

Indian, now amalgated into Air India, operates Airbus A320s, A321 (the first aircraft to be painted in the new Air India livery), Airbus A319-112 and two Dornier 228 aircraft. Indian carried approx. 8.2 million passengers in 2007 while total revenues amounted to Rs 60.5 bn in 2005-06. The airline is planning a debut in the stock market with an IPO slated for later this year. Indian has placed a firm order for 43 narrow-body Airbus aircraft, including 19 A319's, 4 A320's and 20 A321's, all powered with CFM-56-5B engines. The first of these aircraft has been delivered and the last six aircraft are scheduled to be inducted in Indian's fleet in 2010. These aircraft will be powered by CFM56-5 engines. Indian operates some 325 daily flights and carried approx. 1.7 million passengers on its international routes.

Left pic: An Indian Airlines Dornier Do228 at Cochin Airport. This aircraft flies from Cochin to Agatti 6xweekly.

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 classic Boeing 737-200s (now phased out), Bombardier CRJ jets and ATR-42-320 turboprop aircraft. Alliance Air carried 1.47 million passengers in 2004-05 with load and seat factors of 64 and 61.5 % respectively. Operating revenues amounted to Rs 6.2 bn in the same year. Five of the aged Boeing 737-200 jets will be converted into freighters. Alliance has been planned to become Indian's low cost carrier with a fleet of six CRJ's and an equal number of ATR turboprops. Alliance Air is being rebranded as Air India Regional with the first flight under the new brand connecting Delhi and Kanpur. Alliance's aging Boeing 737-200 fleet will be phased out by the end of October when Air India Regional is expected to begin to receive three Bombardier CRJ jets.

Above pic: An Alliance Air Boeing 737-200 parked at Delhi Airport. These vintage 737's have now been phased out from scheduled passenger routes.

Jet Airways' fleet includes long-range widebodied Boeing 777-35Rs, Airbus A330-203s, Boeing 737s (400-, 700-, 800- and 900-series) and ATR-72-212A/500's turbo-props. Jet has ordered 10 Airbus A330-200, 10 Boeing 737 NGs and 13 Boeing 777-300ER widebodies. Delivery of these new aircraft has started. Total revenues amounted to Rs 74 bn in 2006-07 and close to 9.8 million revenue passengers were carried in 2007. Cargo airlifted totalled almost 142,000 tons in 2006-07. Jet has ordered 10 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner long-range jets with deliveries scheduled to begin on 2011. Jet Airways acquired Air Sahara in Apri 2007 and subsequently renamed this 100 per cent subsidiary as Jet Lite.

Above pic: A Jet Airways B737 at Mumbai's Sahar Airport Terminal IB, used by private airlines.


Jet Airways commercial

Go Air, promoted by the Wadia Group operates flights to Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Goa, Hyderabad, Delhi, Srinagar and Jammu. Go Air's fleet consists of Airbus A320-200 aircraft. Go Air carried around one million passengers during its first year of operation ending Nov 2006.

This low-cost carrier has a fleet of Airbus A320-232 aircraft. IndiGo serves the following cities: Delhi, Agartala, Guwahati, Imphal, Pune, Goa, Bangalore, Kolkata, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi, Mumbai, Vadodara, Nagpur, Bhubaneswar and Ahmedabad. Indigo has carried over 2.5 m passengers (till Oct '07) since its launch in August 2006. The airline operates 102 daily flights to 16 destinations.

Jet Airways, which acquired the ertswhile Air Sahara in April 2007, has renamed the airline as JetLite. JetLite's route complements the route network of Jet Airways. JetLite carried approx. 3.1 m passengers in 2007.

Left pic: An Air Sahara Boeing 737 (now JetLite) featuring the old livery at Mumbai Sahar Airport.

Kingfisher Airlines, promoted by the United Breweries Group, operates a fleet of Airbus A330, Airbus A320-232, Airbus A319-132, Airbus A321-231 and ATR-72-500 turboprops, flying to Agartala, Agatti (Lakshadweep), Agra, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bagdogra, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Bhuj, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Hubli, Hyderabad, Indore, Jabalpur, Jaipur, Jammu, Kandla, Khajuraho, Kochi, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mangalore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Raipur, Srinagar, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, Udaipur, Varanasi, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam. Kingfisher Airlines announced orders (incl. preliminary) for 20 Airbus A320 narrowbodies, 10 Airbus A330-200, five Airbus A340-500, 20 Airbus A350 XWBs (Xtra Wide-Body) and five Airbus A380 superjumbos. Kingfisher has also placed an order for 35 ATR-72-500 turboprops with an option for a further 20 aircraft. Kingfisher carried approx. 5.5 million passengers in 2007, an increase of over 87 % compared to 2006. Kingfisher currently operates 250 flights a day to 39 destinations across India and has announced its foray into the international market with the launch of a Bangalore-London (Heathrow) service on Sep 3.

A cabin view of a Kingfisher ATR-72 turboprop. ATR aircraft ply on shorter low-density routes covering mainly tourist destinations and 2nd and 3rd-tier cities.

Simplifly Deccan (earlier Air Deccan), now rebranded as Kingfisher Red, was India's pioneering low-cost carrier when launched in 2003. The airline operates a large fleet of ATR-42-320/500 / ATR-72-212A series turbo-props and Airbus A320 aircraft.

Above pic: An Air Deccan ATR-42 at Bangalore Airport. The new Simplifly Deccan livery resembles that of Kingfisher Airlines' red colour dominated livery. Vijay Mallya led UB Group of companies holds an almost 46 per cent stake in Deccan.

Left pic: A cabin view of an Air Deccan Airbus A320. Air Deccan aircraft are all-economy and snacks and beverages are sold for a nominal price. The airline has a policy of free seating.

Left pic: An Air Deccan Airbus A320. Simplifly Deccan currently operates 22 A320s configured with 180 seats on high density routes to 27 destinations across India. Simplifly Deccan carried around 7.3 million passengers in 2007.

Paramount, a regional airline, is headquarted in Chennai and currently provides 50 daily services to nine South Indian cities. Paramount's fleet includes Brazilian 70-seater Embraer 170 and the slighter larger Embraer 175 jet aircraft. The airline serves Coimbatore, Kochi, Chennai, Madurai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Vizag and Tiruchirapalli. Mangalore and Kozhikode will be connected by Q1/09.

SpiceJet flies to Ahmedabad, Bagdogra, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Srinagar, Varanasi and Vizag. The airline carried over 1.6 million passengers in its first full year of operation and currently offers over 80 daily flights. SpiceJet operates a single aircraft type fleet (Boeing 737-800). SpiceJet has ordered five Boeing 737-800 and five Boeing 737-900ER aircraft.


Left pic: SpiceJet's VT-SPF "Coriander" Boeing 737-800 at Delhi IGIA.

Clips from JustPlanes SpiceJet B737-800 DVD. This DVD includes flights to cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Goa, Pune and Bangalore.

Gurgaon-based MDLR Airlines offers flights between from Delhi to Chandigarh, Dharamsala, Kullu, Ranchi and Kolkata. MDLR's fleet comprises of tthree British Aerospace Avro RJ70 jet aircraft. These are the first RJ70's to be operated by an Indian carrier. The 70-seater aircraft are configured in a two class layout, 6 business and 64 in economy class.

An MDLR Avro RJ70 readying for take off at Chandigarh airport (© deaphen).

The Department of Posts has leased a Boeing 737-200 freighter aircraft from Air India to expedite the delivery of mail and parcels in the North-Eastern region of India. The aircraft has a capacity to carry upto 15 tons of freight. The aircraft is based at Kolkata and flies to Guwahati, Agartala and Imphal.

An air freight company currently operating five converted Being 737-200's and two Boeing 757 freighters.

Above pic: Blue Dart Boeing 737 Freighter at Kolkata NSCB.

Operates cargo flights within India, Colombo and Male with a single Fokker F-27 MK50 aircraft.

Operates a fleet of 36 helicopters comprising of 17 Dauphin SA365N, 9 Dauphin AS 365N3, 3 Bell 206L4, 4 Bell 407, 2 MI-172 and 1 Robinson R-44.

Jagson Airlines' fleet consists of three 20-seater Dornier-228's and one Chetak-III helicopter. Jagson flies from its base in Delhi to Kulu and Shimla and from Mumbai and Pune to Shirdi. Jagson has operates two 26-seater MI-172 helicopters in the North Eastern states.

Left pic: Jagson Airlines has inducted two 26-seater Kazan Helicopters Mi-172 helicopters (photo shot at Delhi airport hangar). The Mi-172 is the world's largest passenger helicopter.

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)..

Operates one Bell 222 helicopter.

Operates one Hawker 125-700B executive jet and one King Air C-90A turbo-prop.

Operates two Ecureil and one M-172 helicopter.

Operates three Fokker F27-200's

Million Air offers a fleet of three helicopters and one Cessna Citation aircraft for charter.

Operates 2 Beech 99, one Piper Seneca-IV aircraft, 2 Bell 206 and one Bell 407 helicopter

Fleet includes two Falcon 2000 jets.

UB Air has a fleet of two Bell 212s and one Alloutte helicopter.

A Chennai based air charter service provider with a fleet of Piper Seneca III, Beechcraft King Air and Beechjet 400

A Chennai based air charter service provider with a fleet of 4 Bell 212, 2 Bell 412 and 2 Sikorsky S76 helicopters.

Provides fractional aircraft ownership with a fleet five Cessna Citation Excel's and Citation CII's, three Eurocopter EC135's and one turboprop.

Specializes in mountain flying with a chopper fleet of two Cheetah/SA 315B and one Chetak SA 316 B.

This Hyderabad-based cargo company has placed an order for six Airbus A330-200F freighter aircraft with the first delivery expected by 2009-10.

The Chennai based airline has announced plans to launch air services in July operating initially three 50-seater CRJ jets. The first service will connect Chennai with Madurai.