New Delhi: 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, Murlidhar Mohol in Rajya Sabha, while replying to questions raised by Member of Parliament 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 The aircraft may be withdrawn from operation by an operator, in case it becomes ‘beyond economic repair’ or is ‘permanently withdrawn from use’ due to any reason such as spares not available.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:

Table-2:

Details of passenger aircraft currently in operation by different airlines:

Table-3:

Details of Vintage of passenger aircraft operated by Airline: