Karandikars & Associates

Scheduled Carriers Passengers

It was in 1911 that India‘s first airplane flew between Allahabad and Naini. It was more of a demonstration flight rather than a commercial service. As per records, it carried 6,500 letters a distance of about 13 kilometers

Indian aviation kicked off in 1932 with the introduction of the first airline, Tata Air Services. The airline, founded by J.R.D Tata, started as an airmail carrier within India, with its inaugural flight in October 1932, flying from Karachi to Mumbai

The airline progressed from a small freight airline to a commercial passenger airline

At the time of India's independence in 1947, nine air transport companies, carrying both air cargo and passengers, operated in the country. During that year, Tata Airways was renamed Air India , and the government took a 49% stake in the airline. The airline began flying its first international flights the next year, flying from Mumbai to London

Up until the mid-1980s, India‘s civil aviation sector remained with government owned airlines. However in 1986, the government once again granted permission to private sector companies to provide air taxi service. Additionally, India‘s Open Sky Policy of 1990 and the Air Corporations (Transfer of Undertakings and Repeal) Act of 1994 further freed up India‘s civil aviation industry

By 1994, India repealed all laws regulating the formation of airlines and allowed the introduction of scheduled private airlines

While these policy changes led to a dramatic increase in the number of private airline carriers; due to viability issues, by the end of the 20th century all private air carriers, except Jet Airlines and Air Sahara, exited the market

The year 2003 saw introduction of low cost carriers – LCCs. It spurred the entry of many LCCs and changed the perception that air travel was reserved only for the elites

By 2007 mergers and acquisitions became common in India‘s civil aviation sector. Within a span of two years Air India and Indian Airlines merged, as did Jet Airways and Air Sahara, and Kingfisher Airlines and Air Deccan

Air Passenger Traffic in India, both domestic and international witnessed a significant negative growth in the year 2020-21 due to a nationwide lockdown in wake of COVID-19 pandemic

The Indian Aviation history turned full circle when Air India was acquired by the Tata Group

Table below captures Domestic and International passengers by India's scheduled carriers. These are the civil aircraft operators that provides air transport services on a regular, published timetable with fixed departure times and routes. In contrast, non-scheduled carriers, such as charter services, operate on demand and don't follow a fixed schedule

For 2024-25, Domestic Passengers carried were 165.5 Million, International Passengers carried were 73.9 Million and Total Passengers carried were 239.4 Million, by the Scheduled Carriers in India

The impact of COVID is apparent from the Table: total passengers carried plummeted from 202 milion in 2019-20 to 62.1 million in 2020-21

View the trends graphically