When the parliament is in session in India, one of the best sources of data and information is the transparency with which the questions are answered and shared in the public domain. In response to a question asked by Mr. Parimal Nathwane, who is a Member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament; the Minister of State for Civil Aviation informed the parliament about
- Number of aircraft currently in operation for passengers in the country
- Details of vintage of these aircraft
- New orders placed in last three years
Amongst other things. This was part of the Unstarred question 2584 which was answered on March 24, 2025.
A total of 680 aircraft are in operation across airlines in India, with IndiGo having the maximum at 319, followed by Air India at 198, Air India Express at 101. Akasa Air has 27 operational aircraft while SpiceJet has only 19. The government-run Alliance Air has only six operational aircraft. It is unclear if the number is inclusive of the wet leased planes which IndiGo and Spicejet operate but all indications are that these numbers are exclusive of the wet-leased operations, which means there are more planes operating for IndiGo and SpiceJet than those mentioned here and these numbers are restricted to only those which are on its own Air Operating Certificate and under the “VT” registration. There are a total of 813 aircraft registered for scheduled passenger operations in India, of which 133 are grounded.
Over half the registered fleet in India is new, with the age being less than five years. IndiGo leads the way here with 283 of its 403 aircraft being less than five years of age, and only three being over 15 years. Air India, on the other hand, has 43 aircraft which are 15 years or older and this comprises 21.7% of its total fleet of 198 planes. The massive order that it has placed is aimed at fleet renewal and replacement. Air India Express, which has inducted massive capacity last year, sees 53 planes (little over half) which is less than five years of age while 37 planes are over 15 years old. SpiceJet does not have an aircraft which is less than five years of age, with a substantial fleet (20 planes) being 10-15 years old, while 18 are above 15 years of age. Akasa Air is the only airline whose entire fleet is less than five years old.
Air India, IndiGo and Akasa Air placed an order for 1359 planes over 2023 and 2024. IndiGo placed orders for 540 planes, while Air India placed orders for 595 planes across both Air India and Air India Express. Akasa Air placed an order for 154 planes.
Even after so many orders, there are chances that airlines may order more planes going forward because the 1300+ planes on order are a mix of replacement and growth. Indian fleet and passenger traffic is doubling every nine years, even as global benchmark remains 15 years to achieve the same.
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