The Indian regulator DGCA updated its fleet data on its website recently. The data is updated till Nov 15, 2024. This update takes into account the merger of Vistara with Air India, along with that of AIX Connect with Air India Express. This was also the first time that fleet details of Go FIRST have been removed since the court has now ordered its liquidation. The last update listed Go FIRST since the airline was still making attempts at a comeback. With SpiceJet’s round of funding, merger of Tata group of airlines and removal of defunct airlines from the list. This is a good time to understand how the fleet is structured in India.
The commercial passenger fleet now totals to 803 aircraft. This does not include the freighters of IndiGo or SpiceJet or those of Cargo carriers like BlueDart.
IndiGo remains the leader
IndiGo has 383 passenger aircraft in its fleet, shows the data. This includes a solid 200 A320neo, 113 A321neo and 25 A320ceo. The listing does not show wet-leased aircraft and hence differs from the airline count of 400. The listing also does not show the grounded planes, but those which are on the Air Operating Certificate or Permit. The Tata group combined stands at 305, which includes a bunch of planes which are not flying anymore, especially the A319s.
India still a narrowbody market
A staggering 85.06% of all passenger aircraft in India are narrow body, the mainstay of airlines in India. Only 8.34% of the fleet is wide body, while 12% are turboprops and 1% regional jets. With large widebody orders from both Air India and IndiGo and deliveries slated to start soon, one might think that this would improve. However, there are far more narrowbody deliveries lined up rather than widebody and while absolute count will improve, the split will likely not.
Airbus in command – Overall fleet and Narrowbody
Of the 803 passenger aircraft which are part of the registry, 71.73% are manufactured by Airbus, while 21.67% are by Boeing, ATR comes in next at 8.34%, while De Havilland Canada is fourth at 3.36%. Embraer has 1.1% of the market while the rest 0.5% is with others comprising Cessna and the sole Dornier flying with Alliance Air.
In the narrowbody segment, the Airbus lead is stronger with 82% planes manufactured by Airbus, while 18% are manufactured by Boeing.
Boeing on top for widebody
Boeing continues to lead the widebody game with 91% of all widebody aircraft being Boeing, and the rest 9% being the six A350s which Air India has in its fleet. While IndiGo has placed orders for 30 A350s, Air India has placed orders for A350s, Dreamliners and the much delayed 77X from Boeing and the split will tilt in favor of Airbus, but not drastically.
Regional carriers have a long way to go
India has been a deathbed for airlines and more so for smaller or regional carriers. Currently, Star Air, Fly91, Flybig, IndiaOne and Alliance Air focus only on regional services, with the likes of IndiGo and SpiceJet also deploying their turboprop aircraft on regional routes. The five airlines combined (without IndiGo and SpiceJet) have a fleet of only 39 aircraft which translates to 4.86% of the
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