Indian airlines placed orders for a total of 1359 new aircraft in previous two years

– of which 999 new aircraft orders were placed in 2023 and 360 new orders in 2024. Currently, 680

aircraft are operational for passenger travel and 133 are grounded spread across various airlines.

There are 105 aircraft which are over 15 years old, and out of these 43 belong to Air India Ltd. and

37 to Air India Express Ltd. Amongst the 680 operational aircraft, 319 belong to InterGlobe

Aviation Ltd. (IndiGo), 198 belong to Air India, 101 are of Air India Express and rest are spread

across other airlines. This information was provided by Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Shri

Murlidhar Mohol in Rajya Sabha, while replying to questions raised by Member of Parliament Shri

Parimal Nathwani regarding passenger airlines in India.

As per the answer of the Minister, the largest number of aircraft orders were placed by IndiGo: in

2023 for 500 A320 NEO family aircraft and in 2024 for 10 A320 NEO family aircraft, plus 30 firm

orders for A350 aircraft and purchase rights for 70 A350 aircraft. The second highest orders for

new aircraft in these two years combined were given by Air India (details in table below). The

recently launched Akasa Air placed a major order for 150 Boeing B737-8/-8200 in 2024 as against

4 such aircraft in 2023.

The Minister’s reply also stated that out of the total of 813 total aircraft with Indian airlines, 133

aircraft are grounded, while 435 aircraft are less than 5 years old, 185 are 5-10 years old, 88 are 10-

15 years old and 105 are above 15 years. Indigo’s fleet has 283 aircraft which are less than 5 years

old out of its total operational 319 aircraft.

Regarding regulations for maximum permissible age for aircraft, the Minister’s reply was that the

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has not prescribed guidelines specifying life for an

aircraft to fly in India. Aircraft are considered airworthy provided the maintenance is as per

approved schedule laid down by the manufacturer. Aircraft registered in India may operate as long

as type certificate is valid to the type of Aircraft and the aircraft is under production/maintenance

support provided by Manufacturer for the continuous operation of the aircraft. The aircraft may be

withdrawn from operation by an operator, in case it becomes 'beyond economic repair' or is

'permanently withdrawn from use' due to any reason such as spares not available.

Table-1:

Details of new aircraft orders placed by different airlines 2023 & 2024:

Name of

Airline

Type of Aircraft No of aircraft orders placed year

wise (2023 & 2024)

2023

IndiGo Air India

Ltd

A320 NEO Family 500

A320 FAM

A321neo+A320neo)

235

B777-9 10

B787-9 20

A350 Series (350-

1000+A350-900)

40

Air India

Express

Limited

Boeing 737-8 190

Akasa Air Boeing B737-8/-8200 4

2024

IndiGo A320 NEO Family 10

A350 30 firm aircraft + Purchase Rights for

70 aircraft

Air India

Ltd

A320 FAM

A321neo+A320neo)

90

A350 Series (350-

1000+A350-900)

10

Akasa Air Boeing B737-8/-8200 150

Total 1359

Table-2:

Details of passenger aircraft currently in operation by different airlines:

Table-3:

Details of Vintage of passenger aircraft operated by Airline:

Name of the Airline No. of operational aircraft

for passenger travel

Air India Ltd 198

SpiceJet 19

Alliance Air 6

InterGlobe Aviation Ltd. (IndiGo) 319

Air India Express Limited 101

Ghodawat Enterprises Pvt Ltd (STAR AIR) 8

Akasa Air 27

Just Udo Aviation Pvt Ltd 2

Total 680

Name of the Airline

Details of Aircraft

Less than

5 years

5-10

years

10-15

years

Above

15 years

Air India Ltd 69 59 27 43

SpiceJet 0 12 20 18

Alliance Air 2 11 8 0

InterGlobe Aviation Ltd.

(IndiGo)

283 97 20 3

Air India Express Limited 53 3 11 37

M/s. GHODAWAT

ENTER PVT LTD (STAR AIR)

1 1 2 4

Akasa Air 27 0 0 0

Just Udo Aviation Pvt

0 2 0 0

Ltd. (Fly91)

Sub-Total 435 185 88 105

Total 813

Out of 813 aircraft, 133 aircraft belonging to different airlines are grounded