India's booming economy has created a large middle-class population in India. Five years back, air travel was a dream for the majority of the Indian population. But rapid economic growth has made air travel more and more affordable in India. Air India, India's flag carrier, presently operates a fleet 135 aircraft and plays a major role in connecting India with the rest of the world. Several other foreign airlines connect Indian cities with other major cities across the globe.
Air Deccan, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, IndiGo Airlines and Air India (formerly Indian Airlines, before merging with Air India ) are the most popular brands in domestic air travel in order of their market share. Of these, Jet, Indian and Kingfisher also operate overseas routes after the liberalisation of Indian Aviation. These airlines connect more than 80 cities across India. However, a large section of country's air transport system remains untapped, even though the Mumbai-Delhi air corridor was ranked 6th by the Official Airline Guide in 2007 among the world's busiest routes.
India's vast unutilized air transport network has attracted several investments in the Indian air industry in the past few years. More than half a dozen low-cost carriers entered the Indian market in 2004-05. Major new entrants include Air Deccan, Kingfisher Airlines, SpiceJet, GoAir, Paramount Airways and IndiGo Airlines. To meet India's rapidly increasing demand for air travel, Air India recently placed orders for more than 68 jets from Boeing for 7.5 billion USD while Indian placed orders for 43 jets from Airbus for 2.5 billion USD. Jet Airways, India's largest private carrier, has invested billions of dollars to increase its fleet. This trend is not restricted to traditional air carriers in India. IndiGo Airlines came into the news with a bang when it announced orders for 100 Airbus A320s worth 6 billion USD during the Paris Air Show; the highest by any Asian domestic carrier. Kingfisher Airline became the first Indian air carrier in June 15, 2005 to order Airbus A380 aircraft. The total deal with Airbus was worth 3 billion USD.
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