A regional airline based in Vijayawada launched commercial service in Oct 2013 with flights connecting nine destinations in India.

Air India's fleet includes Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, Boeing 747-400, Boeing 777-200 and 300 series, Airbus A330-200, Airbus A319/A320/A321, CRJ-700 and ATR-42 aircraft flying to destinations across four continents extending from Chicago in the west, Frankfurt in the north, Tokyo in the east and Melbourne in the south. Air India earned a total revenue of ca Rs 213 billion and carried 15.3 million passengers (excl. Air India Express) in the year ended March 2014.

Above pic: An Air India Airbus A310-300 at Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok international airport. Air India now operates Boeing 787 aircraft to Hong Kong. Air India Boeing 777-337/ER REg. VT-ALO "Karnataka" taxiing at Frankfurt am Main Airport - © Timir Mozumder

Air India's low cost airline subsidiary, Air India Express, flies to from 16 Indian cities to 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 Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The airline carried 2 million passengers in 2013-14 and operates over 200 flights a week to 14 international 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) and Airbus A319-112 aircraft. Indian carried approx. 6.6 million passengers in 2008 (770,000 in Oct '09) 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 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 in 2005. The airline has now phased out the Dornier aircraft and does not currently serve Agatti.

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

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 nas been rebranded as Air India Regional.

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.

Air India Regional ATR 42-320 Reg. VT-ABO Taxiing Past Terminal 1D at Delhi IGI Airport, India © Timir Mozumder

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. Total revenues of the airline amounted to Rs 74 bn in 2006-07 and just over 12 million revenue passengers were carried in 2008. Cargo airlifted totalled almost 142,000 tons in 2006-07. Jet has ordered 10 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner long-range jet. Jet Airways acquired Air Sahara in April 2007 and subsequently renamed the 100 per cent subsidiary as Jet Lite. Jet flies to 42 domestic and 18 international destinations with over 330 daily flights. Jet Airways Konnect, a new all-economy low-cost service, operates over 100 daily flights..

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 © Timir Mozumder

Go Air, promoted by the Wadia Group operates flights to Ahmedabad, Bagdogra, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Cochin, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Jaipur, Jammu, Leh, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nanded, Patna, Pune and Srinagar. Go Air's fleet consists of 17 Airbus A320-200 aircraft. Go Air carried around one million passengers during its first year of operation ending Nov 2006. The airline operates over 130 daily flights to 18 destinations.

GoAir Airbus A320-214 Reg. VT-WAE Taxiing at Delhi IGI Airport - © Timir Mozumder

IndiGo, India's largest airline (passengers carried) operates a large fleet of 78 Airbus A320-232 aircraft. Indigo has carried over 39 m passengers (till Feb '12) since its launch in August 2006. The airline operates 399 daily flights to 33 destinations.

IndiGo Airbus A320-232 Reg. VT-INR Taxiing at Delhi IGI Airport - © Timir Mozumder

Jet Airways acquired the ertswhile Air Sahara in April 2007 and renamed it as JetLite which was rebranded in 2012 to JetKonnect. The airline operates a fleet of 15 Boeing 737 aircraft.

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. © Timir Mozumder

SpiceJet flies to 39 Indian and 5 international destinations. The airline carried 4.6 million passengers in 2008-09 and currently operates ca 330 daily flights. SpiceJet operates a fleet of Boeing 737-800/900ER and Bombardier Q400 NextGen turboprop aircraft.


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 (VIDP/DEL). SpiceJet operates a fleet of 22 Boeing 737 800/900 (as of Nov '10) series aircraft. The airline recently ordered 15 Bombardier Q400 turboprops. © Timir Mozumder

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). © Timir Mozumder

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

The vegetarian meals served on Kingfisher Airlines flights were tasty and hot meals were served even on shorter flights, a rarity eg on shorter intra-European flights. A nice touch is the printed menu served to all passengers.

Gurgaon-based MDLR Airlines offers flights between from Delhi to Chandigarh, Kullu, Ranchi, Lucknow, Kolkata and Goa. 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).

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.

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.

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 46 helicopters comprising of 17 Dauphin SA365N18, 20 Dauphin AS 365N3, 3 Bell 206L4, 3 AS 350 B3, 1 Dhruv and 2 MI-172.

Jagson Airlines operates two 26-seater Mi-172 helicopters.

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 Alouette 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.

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.