List of The Best Airlines In India – 2023

Air travel has certainly become the most preferred mode of travelling and that proportionally increases the market of the airline industry.

India has a booming market for the airline industry with a significant increase in the number of air passengers travelling for both leisure and business purposes. The growing traffic results in healthy competition between various airlines with each of the airlines trying to improve its service, connectivity, punctuality, fares, and in-flight services as well to capture a bigger share of the market and be termed as the best airline.

As of now, India has 8 Scheduled Airlines and 5 Regional Airlines apart from this, 22 Charter Airlines and 2 cargo airlines.

Scheduled Airlines in India

Airline	IATA	ICAO	Commenced	Headquarters	Type
Air India	AI	AIC	1946	Delhi	Full Service
AirAsia India	I5	IAD	2014	Bengaluru	Low Cost
Air India Express	IX	AXB	2005	Kochi	Low Cost
Go First	G8	GOW	2005	Mumbai	Low Cost
IndiGo	6E	IGO	2006	Gurgaon	Low Cost
SpiceJet	SG	SEJ	2005	Gurgaon	Low Cost
Vistara	UK	VTI	2015	Gurgaon	Full Service
Akasa	QP	AKJ	2022	Mumbai	Low Cost

Regional Airlines in India

Airline	IATA	ICAO	Commenced	Headquarters	Type
Alliance Air	9I	AIC	1996	Delhi	Regional
Air Heritage	4H		2019	Dehradun	Regional
Star Air	OG	SDG	2019	Bengaluru	Regional
TruJet	2T	TRJ	2015	Hyderabad	Regional
FlyBig	S9		2021	Gurugram	Regional

Here we have ranked down all the airlines in Best Airlines in India among schedule and regional airlines.

The Best Airlines in India – 2023

1. IndiGo

Indigo ranked 1^st in the list of Best Airlines in India. This is an Indian low-cost airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. The airline was founded in 2006 as a private company by Rahul Bhatia of InterGlobe Enterprises and Rakesh Gangwal, a United States-based Indian. The airline took delivery of its 1st aircraft in July 2006 and started operations a month later in 2016. The airline became the largest Indian carrier as per the passenger market share in 2012. The airline went to Limited in November 2015 and issue shares to the public.

Indigo is the biggest airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, it has a maximum 55.5% domestic market share as of October 2020. Indigo is also the largest individual Asian low-cost carrier in terms of jet fleet size and passengers carried.

Indigo is also ranked the seventh-largest carrier in Asia with over 46 million passengers carried in 2017. As of now, the airline operates flights to 87 destinations which include 63 domestic and 24 international. The maximum number of flights of Indigo Airlines are operated from Indira Gandhi International airport, Delhi.

• Website: https://book.goindigo.in
• Customer Service: India: 0124-6173838, +91-9910383838

2. Air India

Air India the national carrier of India has its headquarters in New Delhi.  The airline was founded by J. R. D. Tata as Tata Airlines in 1932. After the Second World War, it became a public limited company and was renamed Air India currently Air India Airlines is owned by Air India Limited, a government-owned enterprise.

Air India is currently the largest International carrier in India, having 18.6% of the market share.

The airline operates to 103 destinations with international flights to 45 cities in 31 countries and domestic flights to 58 cities

The airline declared a 27th member of Star Alliance on 11 July 2014. Air India also has two subsidiaries, Alliance Air and Air India Express which operate in domestic and Asian Destinations. The maximum number of flights of Air India are operated from the capital of India, Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport.

• Website: www.airindia.in
• Customer service: 1860 233 1407
• Reservations: 011 2462 4075

3. Vistara

Vistara secured its position in the top five with the rank of number five in the best airlines in India but has now climbed up to number three. The airline was founded in 2013 as a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, Tata SIA Airlines Limited.

Vistara is operated as an Indian full-service carrier and has its headquarters in Gurgaon. The airline started its operation on 9 January 2015 with its inaugural flight between Delhi and Mumbai.

The airline had carried more than 20 Lakhs passengers by June 2016 and had a 4% share of the domestic carrier market in the financial year 2019.

As of 31 October 2019, Vistara serves 33 destinations including 4 international destinations and has a fleet of Airbus A320 and Boeing 737-800NG aircraft.

• Website: https://www.airvistara.com
• Customer service: 092892 28888

4. SpiceJet

Spicejet ranked number three in the list of Best Airlines in India but has now slipped down to number four. This low-cost airline has its headquarters in Gurgaon, India.

The airline was established as air taxi provider ModiLuft in 1994, and later in 2004 Indian entrepreneur Ajay Singh acquired this and renamed this Spicejet. The airline started its operation in May 2005.

As of March 2019, the airline is the second-largest airline in India in terms of the number of passengers carried. The airline has 13.6% of the market share in the number of passengers.

The airline has a fleet of Boeing 737 and Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft and operates an average of 630 daily flights to 64 destinations, including 52 Indian and 12 international destinations, majority of its flights are operated from Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Hyderabad.

• Website: https://www.spicejet.com
• Customer service: 096540 03333

5. Air India Express

In the list of best Airlines in India, Air India Express come at number five. Air India Express is an Indian low-cost airline and has its headquartered in Kochi, Kerala.

The airline is operated by Air India Express Limited (AIEL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of India’s national carrier Air India.

Air India Express operates around 649 flights per week to 33 destinations which include some major sectors of the Middle East and Southeast Asia. The airline carries around 4.3 million passengers every year. The airline has a fleet of 25 Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

• Website: https://www.airindiaexpress.in
• Customer service: 04440013001

6. AirAsia India

Air Asia India is an Indian low-cost carrier and has its headquarters in Bangalore, India. The airline started as a joint venture with Tata Sons and Air Asia Berhad. Tata Sons have an 87% stake in the airline and AirAsia Investment Limited (Malaysia) has the remaining 13% stake.

AirAsia India started operations on 12 June 2014 with Bangalore as its primary hub.

AirAsia India is the 4th largest low-cost carrier in India, after IndiGo, SpiceJet, and GoAir. The airline has a market share of 5% in the financial year 2019.

AirAsia India operates over 200 daily flights connecting 21 destinations across India and has a fleet of Airbus A320-200 aircraft.

• Website: https://www.airasia.com
• Customer service: +91 80 4666 2222 +91 80 67662222

7. Go First

Go First, formerly known as GoAir had secured the position of number four but has now slipped down to number seven in the list of Best Airlines in India. The airline was founded in Nov 2005 by Indian industrialist, Jeh Wadia. The airline is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Wadia Group. GoAir has started its operations in November 2005.

In the financial year 2019, Go First has 9% of the market share.

Go First has operated a fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft configured for all economies. As of March 2020, GoAir serves a total of 38 destinations including 27 domestic and 11 international destinations with more than 325 flights daily. The airline has hubs in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, and Kannur.

• Website: Go First (flygofirst.com)
• Customer service: 1860 210 0999

8. Akasa Air

Akasa Air is an Indian airline that started operation in 2022 after being founded in 2021. The company currently operates an Airbus A320 fleet and serves routes within India. Akasa Air flies to cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Bengaluru.

• Website: Akasa Air
• Customer service: +91 9606112131

9. Alliance Air

Alliance Air is a regional airline of India and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India Airlines. The airline was founded in 1996 and mainly operates on domestic routes as part of the government’s Regional Connectivity Scheme (UDAN Scheme).

As of March 2020, Alliance Air flies to 64 destinations. It operates regional services in India through its hubs in Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, and Mumbai.

Alliance Air operates 18 ATR 72-600 and 2 ATR 42-320.

• Website: http://www.airindia.in/alliance-air.htm
• Customer service: 1860 233 1407

10. TruJet

TruJet is an Indian regional airline founded in March 2013 and started operation in July 2015 TruJet has been established as a low-cost carrier providing connectivity between Tier-2 cities from its hub based at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad.

As of May 2019, TruJet flies to 27 domestic sectors and has a fleet size of 5 aircraft which include 3 ATR 72-500 and 2 ATR 72-600.

• Website: https://www.trujet.com
• Customer service: +91 4040904090

11. Star Air

Star Air is an Indian commuter airline founded in 2017 and started its operation in January 2019 from its hub at  Kempegowda International Airport in Bangalore, Karnataka.

The airline is started operations, offering flights within Karnataka state as well as to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat as part of the Central Government’s UDAN scheme.

As of now, the airline flies to 6 domestic destinations all within India, with its hub at Kempegowda International Airport in Bangalore. As of July 2019, Star Air possesses two Embraer ERJ-145s; each aircraft is equipped with 50 seats.

• Website: https://starair.in/
• Customer service: +91 997055 5111

12. Air Heritage

Air Heritage is an Indian regional airline operator owned by Heritage Aviation and has its headquarters in New Delhi. The airline started its operation on 17 January 2019. The airline operates to 3 destinations from its operating bases at Dehradun Airport (Dehradun).

• Website: https://www.airheritage.in
• Customer service: Pantnagar – 7900204044 | Pithoragarh – 7900204045 | Dehradun – 7900204046

13. FlyBig

FlyBig, the newest airline in India is promoted by Gurugram-based Big Charter Private Limited. The Airline began operations in December 2020 and is an airline focused on connecting tier-2 cities within India.

• Website: www.flybig.in
• Customer Service: +91-9910655655

Also Read: World’s Top 10 Airlines of 2022

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