Air transport system of India

Abstract

An introductory part to a series of papers on the geography of Indian air transport. Its purpose is to summarize and analyze statistical information about the modern air transport system of this country from a geographical point of view. The role of this type of communication in the transport system of modern India is considered. The role of air transport in the transport system of modern India is considered. In 2001–2017 the volume of passenger air traffic in the country has grown 7.5 times. The volume of domestic passenger air traffic is almost 4 times higher than international. There are 3 main airlines with regular flights, 4 low-cost airlines, 7 regional and 14 charter companies. They have 769 civil aircrafts and 71 helicopters. Their fleet is dominated by medium-haul passenger aircraft of the A320 and B737 models, as well as regional ATR 72 and ATR 42 aircrafts. The leading airlines in terms of the share of passengers carried are IndiGo (43%), Spicejet (13%), Jet Airways (12%), Air India (11%). The share of cargo transported by aircraft within the country in 2007–2018 increased slowly (from 23% to 29%), but international cargo still dominated (71%). Since 2017, the Regional Air Connectivity (UDAN) program has been implemented, the main goal of which is to connect by air services regional cities that are poorly served or not yet connected to the national airline network. It involves the creation of new regional air routes with limited fares for air tickets and the expansion of the network of regional airports.