Just 803 aircraft fly four lakh passengers every day in India

Indiarsquos burgeoning aviation industry is navigating an era of high demand with a fleet of only 803 registered passenger aircraft excluding wetleased aircraft according to updated data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA The data reflects significant changes including the merger of Air India and Vistara and the exclusion of Go Firstrsquos grounded fleet due to courtordered liquidation Despite these constraints the Indian aviation sector meets the travel needs of lakhs of passengers The industry recently saw the highest number of passengers transported in a daymdash500000mdashon November 17 a milestone in itselfMaximising aircraftldquoAircraft turnaround time is crucial in maintaining schedules and optimising resources With reduced ground time between flights airlines operate more sectors daily effectively increasing capacityrdquo said a senior DGCA official requesting anonymityStrategic planningExperts also point to strategic route planning as a key factor in managing the demandsupply imbalance Airlines prioritise highdemand routes ensuring that available aircraft are deployed to sectors with maximum load factorsldquoAirlines meticulously analyse passenger demand trends to determine sector allocation Longhaul international flights and highdensity domestic routes are often allocated larger aircraft to fulfil the passenger demand depending on the runway and airport specifications of arrival and departure Bigger airports can easily operate B777s or even A380s but smaller airports with small runway lengths often are allocated A320s A320neos and A321s among other aircraft Meanwhile some Indian airlines still use twinturbo propeller aircraft like ATR72s for smaller passenger demand sectorsrdquo said a MoCA analystldquoIndiarsquos passenger numbers estimated at over four lakh per day often outpace available seat capacity leading to higher airfares during peak seasonsrdquo said a senior MoCA official ldquoIndiarsquos airlines need to expedite fleet expansion to sustain growth and meet future demand Multiple Indian airlines have ordered multiple aircraft scheduled to arrive in batches in the next few years which will definitely increase the fleet size reducing load on the overcrowded sectorsrdquo the official saidAircraft owned by carriersIndiGo and Tata Group alone own 8762 per cent of the 803 aircraft in the Indian fleet The former has 383 aircraft or 4769 per cent while the latter has 305 or 3798 per centNarrowbody situationAbout 85 per cent of all passenger aircraft in India are narrow body only 834 per cent are wide body while 12 per cent are turboprops and one per cent are regional jets The main difference between narrowbody and widebody aircraft is the width of the fuselage which affects the aircraftrsquos seating capacity range and cargo capacity Narrowbody aircraft have a single aisle and can seat up to 250 to 275 passengers while widebody aircraft have two aisles and can seat 200 to 600 passengersExpert SpeakCaptain Mohan Ranganathan a seasoned aviator and an aviation expert said ldquoAn aircraft will be operating approximately 14 to 15 hours a day For ease of calculation if we take an average of 250 passengers per aircraft per flight if the aircraft is doing even six flights a day that itself will be 1500 passengers per day per aircraft If we multiply this number with the number of registered aircraft in the Indian fleet and also consider the passengers carried by wetleased aircraft by Indian airlines the number would eventually boil down to the number of passengers we see todayrdquoldquoAnother factor to be considered is the availability of infrastructure when ordering new aircraft The problem is that you can have more aircraft but for every additional aircraft that is coming do you have the pilots engineers and crew and do you have the air traffic controllers to handle the increased numbers It is not just the numbers but we even have to see if the infrastructure is ready Mumbai airport is at its peak for number of movements currentlyrdquoMore aircraft on the waySince 2018 Indian airlines have ordered 1742 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing of which 78 have been received with the rest likely to start arriving from mid2025IndiGo The airline has ordered the most aircraft 1000 in April 2024 They are expected to arrive from Airbus between mid2027 and 2032Air India The airline placed an order for 470 aircraft in June 2023 and they are expected to arrive in bulk from mid2025 onwards The order includes 290 Boeing and 250 Airbus aircraftAkasa Air The airline has placed orders for 226 aircraft Between 2021 and 2023 the airline placed orders for 76 Boeing 737 MAX planes of which 22 were received The rest are expected to arrive between 2027 and 2032Apart from the 76 aircraft the airline also placed an order for 150 more 737 MAX aircraft which are expected to arrive between 2027 and 2032Vistara In 2018 Vistara placed an order for 56 aircraft from Airbus and Boeingmdashincluding A320neo A321 and 7879 modelsmdashwhich were delivered by March 2024 The fleet has now been merged with that of Air IndiaSpiceJet The airlinersquos CEO Ajay Singh recently announced plans to buy 75 more aircraft taking the fleet past the 100 mark Orders however are yet to be placedFlight numbers of another kindYear Number of registered aircraft2022 610 till March 1 20222024 803 till late November 2024Pax flown domestic trafficOct 202211407 lakh or 36 lakh per dayOct 202413658 lakh or 4 lakh per day