Soaring high in the sky, the aviation industry in India has grown exponentially over the years. With a sustained momentum, it is expected to further grow manifold. With the Indian economy flourishing, income levels rising, the Indian traveler does not have to look too far, as timesaving and wallet friendly travel is now made available. As lifestyles become busier and the pay checks become heftier, the Indian traveler will not compromise on quality, convenience or time. Catering to the rising demands, many new players have entered the aviation arena, embarking on fresh ideas and innovative schemes.
A spillover effect on the Indian aviation industry has been created, so as the aviators keep their engines revved up, the Indian skies provide expeditious commutation to the Indian traveler.
Below is a brief preview of the domestic airlines operating in India:
INDIAN
Formerly named Indian Airlines, this airline has firmly established itself as a premier domestic flyer, and has been in existence since 1953. It is completely owned by the Government of India and is among India’s second largest airline. In totality, it covers 76 destinations, i.e. 58 in India and 18 abroad. According to reports as of January 2005, it employs an average of 19,600 employees. It serves its customers with a number of call centers in all the major cities
Currently, Indian owns a fleet of 70 aircrafts (3 wide bodied airbus A300s, 47 fly-by-wire airbus A320s, 3 Airbus A319s, 11 Boeing 737s, 2 Dornier Do-228 aircraft and 4 ATR-42). Another fleet of 43 new aircrafts comprising of 19 A319s, 4 A320s & 21 A321 are expected to be inducted soon. Indian offers an average of 35,000 seats per day and is planning to expand its destinations even further.
Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Afghanistan are the international sectors that India currently covers.
It is also planning to cover Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa in the coming future as it has finalized the lease of two of its A-330-200 jets.
JET AIRWAYS
Jet Airways is one of the premier private airlines in India with Mr. Naresh Goyal as its Chairman. It was established in the year 1991 and started with a fleet of 4 Boeing aircrafts covering 12 destinations. It was the first private airline of the country to cover international sectors. Based in Mumbai, today it provides impeccable services to the quality savvy consumer, and covers 44 domestic destinations and 5 overseas sectors. Over 320 of its flights operate domestically and internationally.
The overseas destinations that Jet Airways covers are Colombo, Katmandu, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and London (Heathrow), from Amritsar, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. It will soon be commencing its operations to Brussels, Bangkok and Newark. Its Amritsar to London Heathrow sector is now begun operating thrice a week.
It is today a public limited company with a fleet of 55 aircrafts, i.e. 3 Airbus 340-300E, 4 Boeing 737-800, 1 Airbus 330-200, 1 Boeing 737-700, 18 Boeing 737-800, 8 ATR 72-500, 2 Boeing 737-900, 12 Boeing 737-700, and 6 Boeing 737-400. It is the first Indian airline to become an operator of A330. It has received many awards for maintaining and providing impeccable standard of services. Below is the list of 49 destinations that Jet Airways covers:
Jammu & Kashmir : Leh, Jammu, Srinagar
Chandigarh : Chandigarh
Delhi : Delhi
Rajasthan : Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur
Gujarat: Porbandar, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Bhuj
Maharashtra: Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Nagpur
West Bengal: Kolkata, Bagdogra
Uttar Pradesh: Lucknow, Varanasi
Daman & Diu: Diu
Bihar: Patna
Punjab: Amritsar
Madhya Pradesh: Khajuraho, Indore, Bhopal
Goa: Goa Dabolim
Karnataka: Bangalore, Mangalore
Tamil Nadu: Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai
Andhra Pradesh: Hyderabad
Kerala: Calicut, Cochin, Trivandrum
Andaman & Nicobar Islands: Port Blair
Chhatisgarh: Raipur
Assam: Guwahati, Jorhat
Manipur: Imphal
Tripura: Agartala
Sri Lanka: Colombo
Nepal: Kathmandu
Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur
Singapore: Singapore Changi
Thailand: Suvarnabhumi International Airport
UK: London Heathrow
Belgium: Brussels
USA: Newark, New Jersey
Canada: Toronto, Toronto Pearson International Airport
Kingfisher Airlines
This Bangalore based private airline is owned by Mr. Vijay Mallya of United Beverages Group. Kingfisher Airlines connects the following destinations.
Agartala (Agartala Airport)
Ahmedabad (Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport)
Bangalore (HAL Bangalore International Airport)
Bhubaneswar (Biju Patnaik Airport)
Chennai (Chennai International Airport)
Coimbatore (Coimbatore Airport)
Delhi (Indira Gandhi International Airport)
Dibrugarh (Dibrugarh Airport)
Guwahati (Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport)
Goa (Dabolim Airport)
Hubli (Hubli Airport)
Hyderabad (Begumpet Airport)
Jaipur (Jaipur Airport)
Jammu (Jammu Airport)
Kochi (Cochin International Airport)
Kolkata (Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport)
Mangalore (Mangalore International Airport)
Mumbai (Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport)
Nagpur (Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport)
Pune (Pune Airport)
Puttaparthi (Sri Sathya Sai Airport)
Srinagar (Srinagar Airport)
Tiruchirapally (Tiruchirapalli Airport)
Tirupati (Tirupati Airport)
Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum International Airport)
Udaipur (Udaipur Airport)
Varanasi (Varanasi Airport)