The (new) Indian aviation industry...

And keeping in line with my new theme of providing interesting stuff that I think might interest you; I've decided to post a few items on the recent boom in the air travel industry in the motherland.

Here's a quick question to get you thinking:

Q: How many domestic airline carriers are in operation in India today? Care to name them...

A: I only realised the scale of growth on my recent visits in 2005 and 2006. A quick check on Wikipedia reveals the following list:
* 1 Air Sahara (now taken over by Jet Airways and soon to be rebadged 'JetLite')
* 2 Jet Airways
* 3 Air India Express
* 4 Alliance Air
* 5 Paramount Airways
* 6 Indus Airways
* 7 Air Deccan
* 8 Go Air
* 9 IndiGo Airlines
*10 Kingfisher Airlines
*11 Spicejet
*12 Jagson Airlines

Yes that's 12 domestic carriers in operation today. Just four years ago, before India liberalised aviation, there were only three main domestic airlines!

Here's a piece I read somewhere on the net... 'During the financial year 2005 - 06, India's civil aviation industry achieved the biggest ever growth in aircraft movement and passenger traffic. Passenger traffic in the domestic airports increased by 22.3 per cent to 59.54 million, while aircraft movement increased by 14.2 per cent to 730 000.'

India is now the fastest growing aviation market in the world according to a recent article by the BBC.

The next couple of posts will take a closer look at specific airlines that have been making the headlines of late.