New Delhi: India has emerged as the world’s third-largest domestic aviation market, following the United States and China, with significant fleet expansions by airlines such as IndiGo and Air India to meet the growing demand for air travel, according to data compiled by aviation analytics firm OAG.
Over the past decade, India’s domestic airline capacity has doubled from 7.9 million seats in April 2014 to 15.5 million seats in April 2024, surpassing Brazil and Indonesia to ascend from fifth to third place globally.
India has overtaken Brazil, which now ranks fourth with 9.7 million airline seats, followed by Indonesia in fifth place with 9.2 million seats.
India has also achieved the highest annual average capacity growth rate of 6.9 percent among the top five countries over the last decade, compared to China at 6.3 percent and the US at 2.4 percent.
IndiGo and Air India, collectively poised with more than 1,000 planes on order, dominate the Indian domestic market with nine out of every ten domestic seats.
According to OAG, India has experienced the most rapid transition to low-cost carriers (LCCs) among the top five countries. As of April 2024, LCCs account for 78.4 percent of India’s domestic aviation capacity, ahead of Indonesia at 68.4 percent, Brazil at 62.4 percent, the US at 36.7 percent, and China at 13.2 percent.
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