Civil aviation in India

Civil aviation in India, the world's fastest growing domestic air traffic market (6.9%) and third-largest civil aviation market (4.2% of global air traffic) in 2024 behind USA (18%) and China (16.7%), contributes nearly US$ 54 billion in circular economy and nearly US$6 billion in direct economy to the GDP of India with nearly 370,000 direct and 7.7 million indirect jobs created. In the 2024 fiscal year, India had 376 million air passengers, including 306 million domestic passengers, and the largest airline by international passenger traffic was Air India with 23.6% of total international passenger traffic in and out of India, followed by Indigo (17.6 %) and Emirates (8.3%). Low-cost carriers (LCC) dominate the Indian market with 71% scheduled seats dominated by IndiGo (54%), Air India (12%), and Air India Express (8.6%). Due to the expansion of LCCs, the inflation-adjusted domestic fares have fallen 21% and international fares by 38% since 2011, while commercial aircraft fleet has more than doubled in last 10 years with 860 aircraft in service (2.4% of the global fleet) with order book of another 739 over next five years, with 7.3 years average aircraft age compared to the 14.8 years global average.

The origin of civil aviation India dates back to 1911, when the first commercial civil aviation flight took off from a polo ground in Allahabad carrying mail across the Yamuna river to Naini. Air India is India's national flag carrier, having merged with Indian Airlines in 2007 and plays a major role in connecting India with the rest of the world. IndiGo, Air India, Air India Express, Akasa Air, and Spicejet are the major carriers in order of their market share. These airlines connect more than 80 cities across India and also operate overseas routes after the liberalisation of Indian aviation. Several other foreign airlines connect Indian cities with other major cities across the globe. However, a large section of country's air transport potential remains untapped, even though the Mumbai–Delhi air corridor is ranked the world's third-busiest route.

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