Domestic Airlines in India

The history of aviation in India dates back to 1911 when the first commercial aviation flight took off on February 18 of the same year. It was a short, 10 km flight from Allahabad to Naini. But it paved the way for the civil aviation market in India, which is the third-largest in the world today.

After this memorable day in 1911, the next big step was taken in 1932 on October 15, with the introduction of India's first airline, Tata Air Services. It started as an airmail service founded by JRD Tata, and the inaugural flight flew from Karachi to Mumbai. JRD Tata, India's first licenced pilot, also piloted this historic flight. It gradually evolved into a commercial passenger airline and was renamed Tata Airlines in 1938. Following India's independence in 1947, Tata Airlines became Air India, with the government of India taking a 49% stake in it.

The next few decades saw other players entering the airline market, like Deccan Airways and Kalinga Airlines. In the 1950s, the aviation industry came under the government's control. The majority of airlines present were merged to form two leading airlines – Air India (international flights) and Indian Airlines (domestic flights) – run by the government.

Indian aviation turned a new leaf in the early 90s when new laws allowed the formation of private airlines. This gave birth to the likes of Jet Airways and ModiLuft; ModiLuft later became Spice Jet. The major boom came in the 2000s when new names, like IndiGo, entered the market as Low-Cost Carriers and began giving tough competition to the Full-Service Carriers such as Jet Airways and Air India.

Today there are many players in the market, and the Indian aviation sector continues to grow. On the memorable date of February 18, 2021, our country celebrated 110 years in aviation.

Vistara

It's the newest addition to the Indian airline market. It is a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines. Its headquartered in Gurgaon and is a full-service airline.

Some of the prominent domestic destinations served by Vistara are Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Leh, Ahmedabad, Udaipur, Chennai, Dehradun, Varanasi, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Srinagar, Chandigarh, Guwahati, Lucknow and Port Blair, among others. Outside India, it flies to Singapore, Dubai, Sharjah, London, Bangkok, Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Doha, to name a few.

IndiGo

IndiGo boasts the largest fleet size in the country. It is often ranked the number one airline in India based on its performance and domestic flights' share. It was ranked the fifth-best low-cost airline in the world in 2021. It is headquartered in Gurgaon.

IndiGo covers all the major destinations in India and quite a few internationally as well. Some of these include Amritsar, Bhubaneswar, Bhopal, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Goa, Hubli, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Kurnool, Mangaluru, Praygraj, Surat, Bangkok, Doha, Dubai, Muscat, Singapore, Sharjah and Kathmandu.

Air India

Air India is the oldest airline in India. It is a full-service airline that provides the maximum luggage capacity for domestic flights. It has its headquarter in New Delhi, and it is the flag carrier airline of India.

Some of the Indian cities to which Air India provides connectivity are Delhi, Mumbai, Tirupati, Port Blair, Visakhapatnam, Raipur, Goa, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Jammu, Srinagar, Ranchi, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Nagpur, and Madurai. Among international destinations, some of the famous places served by Air India are Rome, Tokyo, Beirut, Amsterdam, Muscat, Doha, Moscow, Jeddah, Durban, Zurich, Dubai, London, Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Kabul, Melbourne, Vienna, Toronto and Prague.

SpiceJet

SpiceJet is a well-known low-cost airline in India with its headquarter in Gurgaon. Its current market share places it at number two in the country based on the number of domestic passengers it carries. It offers a premium service called Spice Max.

SpiceJet flies to several domestic and international destinations. Some of these are – Dhaka, Hong Kong, Sharjah, Dubai, Colombo, Riyadh, Muscat, Hanoi, Male, Kolkata, Dehradun, Madurai, Chennai, Udaipur, Jaiselmer, Jaipur, Shirdi, Mumbai, Delhi, Gwalior, Leh, Trivandrum, Surat, Dharamsala, Patna, Tirupati and more.

AirAsia India

AirAsia India is a joint venture between Tata Sons and AirAsia Investment Limited (Malaysia) and has its headquarter is in Bengaluru. It was ranked as the fourth largest domestic carrier in 2020.

It serves many cities across India. Some of the notable ones are as follows – Dabolim, Guwahati, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Ranchi, Indore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Delhi, Srinagar, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Amritsar, Surat, Guwahati and Visakhapatnam.

Go First

Incorporated in 2004, Go First is a part of Wadia Group, with its headquarter in Mumbai. It started its flight operations in 2005 and has been known for its on-time performance and the least flight cancellations. It is a low-cost airline and one of the leading players in the Indian market.

It serves both domestic and international destinations, such as Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Kochi, Mumbai, Delhi, Goa, Jammu, Nagpur, Kannur, Patna, Srinagar, Ranchi, Varanasi, Kolkata, Mangalore, Dehradun, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Jaipur, Aby Dhabi, Kuwait, Muscat, Phuket, Sharjah, Dammam, and Colombo.

Air India Express

Air India Express is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India and is headquartered in Kochi, Kerala. It started operating in April 2005.

Air India Express flies to prominent cities across India and some destinations outside India as well. Some of these destinations are listed as follows – Chennai, Madurai, Pune, Mumbai, Lucknow, Jaipur, Varanasi, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Kochi, Kannur, Kozhikode, Trivandrum, Mangaluru, Dubai, Sharjah, Bahrain, Dammam, Singapore, Riyadh, Kuala Lumpur, Salalah, Doha and more.

Alliance Air

A wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India, Alliance Air is headquartered in New Delhi. Its main aim is to provide connectivity to and from tier 2 and tier 3 cities. Its fleet comprises 18 ATR 72-600 aircraft.

The popular destinations served by Alliance Air include Ahemdabad, Agatti, Dharamsala, Goa, Lilabari, Bilaspur, Tezpur, Lucknow, Mysuru, Nashik, Pantnagar, Pathankot, Kolhapur, Gorakhpur and Guwahati among others.