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Airlines of India

Indian domestic scheduled airlines carried around 123.2 million passengers in 2022, thus registering a growth of 47 % over the previous year but well below domestic passenger volumes registered in 2019 (144 m). All restrictions relating to a cap in the number of domestic flights permitted were removed in Oct '21.


 
 

Passengers Carried (nos) on Scheduled Domestic Flights (2016)

Airline IATA Code Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total
AirAsia India I5 174 996 166 829 176 832 167 422 190 379 173 192 190 509 187 620 187 920 235 607 251 322 277 261 2 379 889
Air Carnival 2S 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 036 6 357 7 708 9 232 9 752 37 085
Air Costa LB 58 607 56 760 54 387 64 459 65 321 62 187 65 239 55 188 50 799 51 223 52 240 49 599 686 009
Air India AI 1 187 246 1 121 469 1 124 527 1 162 486 1 296 183 1 200 692 1 225 114 1 189 531 1 170 949 1 088 303 1 127 379 1 245 063 14 138 942
Air India Express IX 9 535 6 724 6 715 6 740 12 727 7 897 7 740 9 139 9 666 11 707 13 865 10 308 112 763
Air Pegasus OP 23 487 19 135 14 420 20 385 21 015 14 296 14 231 0 0 0 0 0 126 969
GoAir G8 618 650 595 139 655 518 676 012 700 766 663 991 716 125 674 131 686 692 688 261 719 566 780 622 8 175 473
IndiGo 6E 2 818 080 2 824 045 3 086 455 3 141 475 3 408 589 3 088 436 3 416 019 3 321 459 3 275 496 3 706 073 3 807 017 3 848 322 39 741 466
Jet Airways 9W 1 632 485 1 572 812 1 587 324 1 495 871 1 641 970 1 516 883 1 624 290 1 599 498 1 524 839 1 474 807 1 545 399 1 696 071 18 912 249
SpiceJet SG 1 010 933 976 302 1 006 417 1 021 299 1 096 114 1 010 110 993 785 1 053 603 1 029 704 1 118 352 1 148 498 1 094 325 12 559 442
Trujet 2T 29 163 25 585 27 950 32 830 40 842 34 524 29 327 30 534 32 677 39 022 40 965 31 059 394 478
Vistara UK 150 066 148 657 158 084 182 880 221 225 226 938 225 103 205 157 203 216 232 371 260 447 304 154 2 518 298
 

Passengers Carried (nos) on Scheduled International Flights (2016)

Airline IATA Code Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan-Dec
Air India AI 545 940 464 071 498 298 465 781 489 623 460 734 492 350 495 666 459 875 456 108 470 888 524 561 5 823 895
Air India Express IX 229 538 200 151 224 198 246 332 260 886 240 723 281 438 280 437 277 156 259 153 261 846 315 539 3 077 397
IndiGo 6E 139 730 134 780 152 886 142 296 146 445 136 128 151 887 137 506 143 635 160 213 164 499 187 355 1 797 360
Jet Airways 9W 656 985 569 567 618 227 624 547 651 918 616 604 674 454 699 335 628 260 626 327 646 963 774 266 7 787 453
SpiceJet SG 122 766 126 394 146 195 139 579 142 396 129 462 138 953 129 450 137 371 136 842 136 767 151 420 1 637 595

 

Announced/Planned New Airline/Air Taxi/Air Freight Operators

Jet Airways

Erstwhile Jet Airways which was the among the first private scheduled airlines to operate in India back in the mid 90's folded up operations in Apr '19. The airline's new promoters have announced plans to revive the airline. The revived airline received its AOC in May '22.

Scheduled Operators

AirAsia India

AirAsia India operates 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 a total of 4.4 million and nine million passengers in 2020 and 2019 respectively.

AirAsia India is planned to be merged with Air India Express.

Air India

Air India Airbus A310-300Air India's fleet includes Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, Boeing 747-400, Boeing 777 and Airbus A319/A320/A321 aircraft flying to destinations across four continents extending from San Francisco in the west, Frankfurt 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. 6.2 passengers in 2020-21 compared to 22.1 million passengers in 2019-20. Air India carried 16.1 m passengers on domestic routes in 2019.

A major divestment/restructuring plan (upto 95 % divestment) is underway for Air India although the ongoing pandemic has delayed the process. The final deadline for financial bids was extended to Sep 15 '21. 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 opting for a 25 per cent share post merger. The merger is expected to be completed by Q1/24. As part of its expansion and modernisation plans Air India is expected to firm up orders for up to hundreds of narrow and widebody jet aircraft in the near future.

Above pic: An Air India Airbus A310-300 (no longer operated) at Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok international airport. Air India now operates Boeing 787 aircraft to Hong Kong. Air India Boeing 777-337ER Reg. VT-ALO "Karnataka" taxiing at Frankfurt Airport - © Timir Mozumder

Air India Express

Air India Express B737-800Air India's low cost airline subsidiary, Air India Express, flies to 18 Indian cities and 13 international destinations incl. Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain, Muscat, Salalah, Bahrain, Doha, Kuwait, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Dhaka and Colombo with a fleet of 24 Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The airline carried 4.36 million passengers in 2018-19 (182 000 passengers on domestic routes in 2019) and reported a total revenue of ₹ 42 bn and a net profit of ₹ 1.7 bn for the same year.

Air India Express is planned to be merged with AirAsia India.

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

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 12 cities as of Dec '22. 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 in Nov '21 along with CFM LEAP-1B power plants. Akasa Air received its first aircraft in Jun '22 with a further 15 Boeing 737 MAX jets inducted between Jul '22 and Jan '23. The airline plans to operate a fleet of 72 aircraft by 2027.

Alliance Air

Alliance Air Airbus A320 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. 

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

Air India Regional ATR 42-320 Reg. VT-ABO Taxiing Past Terminal 1D at Delhi IGI Airport, India © youtube.com/indiavideo

flybig

Flybig, a new startup regional air carrier, operates a regional air service network to 15 cities/towns, mainly in Northeast and Central India using ATR-72and Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft. The airline signed a LOI with De Havilland Aircraft of Canada in Mar '22 for the procurement of up to 10 Viking Air Twin Otters in the future. 

Go First

A Go Air A320 at Mumbai Airport Go First (previously GoAir), promoted by the Wadia Group operates approx. 300 daily flights to 36 destinations. Go First's fleet consists of 58 Airbus A320-200/neo aircraft and the airliner carried 15.3 m passengers on domestic routes in 2019. Go First launched international operations with air services to Phuket and Malé in Oct '18 and presently serves nine overseas destinations.


GoAir Airbus A320-214 Reg. VT-WAE Taxiing at Delhi IGI Airport - © youtube.com/indiavideo

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 with two Cessna Caravan 208B single-engine turboprop aircraft.

IndiGo

An IndiGo Airbus A320 at Hyderabad's Begumpet airportIndiGo, India's largest airline and the eight largest in the world based on the number of weekly seats available (1.44 m in early Jan '21), operates a growing fleet of over 300 Airbus A320/A321 and ATR72 turboprop aircraft. Indigo carried over 64.7 million passengers in 2018/19. The airline operates over 1 600 daily flights to 76 domestic and 26 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 nos 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. IndiGo's total income for 2018-19 increased to ₹ 298 billion.

 


IndiGo Airbus A320-232 Reg. VT-INR Taxiing at Delhi IGI Airport - © youtube.com/indiavideo

SpiceJet

SpiceJet SpiceJet flies to 54 Indian and 10 international destinations. The airline carried 21.5 m and 2.75 m passengers on domestic and international routes respectively in 2019 and as of Jul '22 operates around 200 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. The airline posted revenues totalling ₹ 78 bn in 2017-18.

SpiceShuttle operated a wet leased seaplane (Viking Air DHC-6 Twin Otter with floats) passenger service connecting Ahmedabad with the Statue of Unity located at Kevadiya (Gujarat) from Oct '20 till Apr '21. The aircraft was thereafter returned to the Maldives. A new tender was floated by the state gov't for the relaunch of this seaplane service and the contract was awarded to Mehair for the reintroduction of a seaplane (Cessna Grand Caravan 208B amphibian) service from Ahmedabad to Ekta Nagar (close to the Statue of Unity).


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


SpiceJet Boeing 737-8GJ Reg. VT-SPP "Rosemary" Taxiing at Delhi IGI Airport. SpiceJet operates a fleet of Boeing 737 and Bombardier Q400 aircraft. © youtube.com/indiavideo

Vistara

Vistara flies to 43 destinations within India and a few international/regional destination and operates over 250 flights a day with a growing fleet of Airbus A320/321, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Boeing 737 aircraft. The airline commenced international services in Aug '19. It's main hub is at Delhi IGIA. Vistara carried 5.62 million passengers in 2018. The airline placed an order for 13 Airbus A320/A321 neo jets and six Boeing 787-9 aircraft in July '18. The airline recorded a total revenue of over ₹ 21 bn during fiscal '18 and a net loss of ₹ 4.3 bn.

Star Air

Star Air flies to Ahmedabad, Belagavi, Bengaluru, Ghaziabad, Hubballi, Indore (wef Jan 20), Kalaburagi, Mumbai and Tirupati. The airline operates three 50-seater Embraer E145 regional jets. Star Air carried 91 000 passengers in 2020. The airline is expected to induct two leased Embraer E175 regional jets in H2/22.

Defunct Operators

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.

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.


Indian Airlines (old livery) Airbus A320-231 Reg. VT-EPS Taxiing at Delhi IGI Airport (VIDP/DEL) - © youtube.com/indiavideo

Indian Airlines Dornier 228
An Indian Airlines Dornier Do228 at Cochin Airport in 2005. The airline has now phased out the Dornier aircraft and does not currently serve Agatti.
Indian Airlines Airbus A320
An Indian Airlines Airbus A320

Jet Airways

A Jet Airways B737 at Mumbai Sahar Airport Terminal IBJet 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 Konnect, a new all-economy low-cost service, operated over 100 daily flights. The airline had ordered a total of 225 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.
Jet Airways suspended all operations in Apr '19 due to financial constraints.

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


Jet Airways Boeing 737-71Q Taxiing Past Terminal 1D at Delhi IGI Airport, India © youtube.com/indiavideo

JetKonnect (Jet Airways)

Air Sahara B737 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.

Left pic: An Air Sahara Boeing 737 at Bangalore's Hindustan Airport, later on part of the JetLite fleet.

Air Sahara B737
Left pic: An Air Sahara Boeing 737 (now JetLite) featuring the old livery at Mumbai Sahar Airport.


JetLite Bombardier (Canadair) CRJ-200 Taxiing at Delhi IGI Airport. © youtube.com/indiavideo

Kingfisher Airlines

Kingfisher Kingfisher Airlines, one of India's major airlines, suspended all flight operations in Oct '12.



Kingfisher Airlines Airbus A320-232 Reg. VT-ADV Taxiing to Gate at Delhi IGI Airport (VIDP/DEL). © youtube.com/indiavideo

Cabin view of a Kingfisher ATR72A 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.










Kingfisher vegetarian mealThe 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.

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.

Kingfisher Red

Air Deccan ATR-42Simplifly 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.

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.

Air Deccan A320 cabin view
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.







Air Deccan A320
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 Airways

ParamountParamount, 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.

Above pic: A Paramount Airways Embraer 170 jet taxiing at Chennai airport.

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

Blue Dart Aviation Ltd.

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.

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.

Non-scheduled/Miscellaneous/Seaplane Operators

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.

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)..


Supreme Airlines
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


Modified January 24, 2023

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