Top 5 Biggest Airlines in India
Rank 1 – Air India
Air India is one of the biggest Airlines in India. The ranking of different airlines in India places it on top of the list. It is the flag carrier airline of India.[8] It is owned by Air India Limited, a government-owned enterprise, and operates a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft serving 94 domestic and international destinations. The airline has its hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, alongside several focus cities across India. Air India is the largest international carrier out of India with an 18.6% market share.[9]
Over 60 international destinations are served by Air India across four continents. Additionally, the carrier is the third largest domestic airline in India in terms of passengers carried with a market share of 13.5% as of July 2017.[10] The airline became the 27th member of Star Alliance on 11 July 2014. The airline was founded by J. R. D. Tata as Tata Airlines in 1932.
Rank 2 – SpiceJet
SpiceJet is a low-cost airline headquartered in Gurgaon, India. It is the third largest airline in the country by number of domestic passengers carried, with a market share of 13.3% as of October 2017.[4] The airline operates 312 daily flights to 55 destinations, including 45 Indian and 10 international destinations from its hubs at Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
Established as air taxi provider ModiLuft in 1994, the company was acquired by Indian entrepreneur Ajay Singh in 2004 and re-christened as SpiceJet. The airline operated its first flight in May 2005. Indian media baron Kalanidhi Maran acquired a controlling stake in SpiceJet in June 2010 through Sun Group which was sold back to Ajay Singh in January 2015. The airline operates a fleet of Boeing 737 and Bombardier Dash aircraft
Rank 3 – Jet Airways
Jet Airways is a major Indian international airline based in Mumbai. In October 2017, it was the second-largest airline in India after IndiGo with a 17.8% passenger market share.[9] It operates over 300 flights daily to 67 destinations worldwide from its main hub at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and secondary hubs at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Chennai International Airport, Indira Gandhi International Airport, Kempegowda International Airport and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport.
Incorporated in April 1992 as a limited liability company, the airline began operations as an air taxi operator in 1993. It began full-fledged operations in 1995 with international flights added in 2004.
Rank 4 – IndiGo
IndiGo is a low-cost airline headquartered at Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It is the largest airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 39.9% market share as of February 2018.[5] It is also the largest individual Asian low-cost carrier in terms of jet fleet size and passengers carried, and the Seventh largest carrier in Asia with over 46 million passengers carried in 2017. The airline operates to 50 destinations both domestic and international. It has its primary hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi.[6] The airline was founded as a private company, by Rahul Bhatia of InterGlobe Enterprises; and Rakesh Gangwal, a United States-based expatriate Indian; in 2006.
Rank 5 – GoAir
GoAir is a low-cost carrier based in Mumbai, India. It is owned by the Indian business conglomerate Wadia Group. In October 2017 it was the fifth largest airline in India with an 8.4% passenger market share.[3] It commenced operations in November 2005 and operates a fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft in all economy configuration. As of June 2018, the airline operates over 140 daily flights to 23 cities from its hubs at Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata.
