The airline industry of India has seen tremendous growth in the past few years. The sudden boom has resulted in the coming of many new players in the industry. Earlier the Airline industry was basically confined to the elite classes. The reason being the high cost of airline tickets. But with the passage of time several cheap airline carriers have caught the market in India.

Have a glimpse at some of the famous domestic airlines of India:

Air India
The national airline of India, Air India, was started by JRD Tata in 1932. Air India was previously known as Tata Airlines. It was only in August 1946 that Tata Airlines was converted into a Public company under the name of Air India. It was from 1948 that Air India started its international operations. In early 1950's due to the declining financial conditions of various airlines, the government decided to nationalize air transport. This gave birth to two autonomous wings - Indian Airlines and Air India International. The Indian Airlines was formed by the merger of eight domestic airlines whereas Air India International was established to operate the overseas services. However later the word' International' was dropped. Since then the company has been called as Air India Limited. Air India's network today covers around 44 destinations all over the world. Also, Air India's fleet consists of 38 aircrafts.

Indian Airlines
Indian Airlines now known as Indian is one of the premier airlines of India. It is fully owned by the government and was established in 1953. It provides its services in India as well as in other neighboring countries. It was only after the nationalization of eight private airlines that Indian Airlines came into being. At the time of nationalization Indian Airlines inherited a fleet of around 99 aircrafts. Since then the fleet has been in a mode of continuous up gradation. Indian Airlines covers around 76 destinations.

Jet Airways
Jet Airways is one of the premiere private airlines of India. It operates around 320 flights daily to around 43 destinations of India. It holds a control over 40% of the overall aviation market. Jet Airways is said to be the first private airline of India to fly even to international destinations. It operates daily international flights to destinations like Colombo, Singapore, London and Kuala Lumpur. It has earned enough awards for its superior hospitality. Started in 1991, Jet Airways presently owns around 55 aircrafts and is a public limited company.

Air Sahara
Air Sahara, a part of the Sahara India Pariwar is one of the leading private airlines of India. It was established in 1991 and began its operations in 1993. Earlier it was known as Sahara Airlines. It was in 2000 that Sahara Airlines was re branded as Air Sahara. Today Air Sahara connects to many domestic and international destinations. Domestic destinations include: Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Allahabad, Ranchi, Pune, Chennai. Air Sahara currently has a fleet of 27 aircrafts.

Kingfisher Airlines
Kingfisher Airlines, a well known private airline is based in Bangalore. It is owned and managed by the liquor baron Vijay Mallya. The operations of Kingfisher Airlines started in May 2005. The chief Indian destinations covered by the airlines are: Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Cochin, Pune and many other Indian destinations. In a short span of time, Kingfisher Airlines has come a long way. Several unique facilities are offered ti the customers flying by Kingfisher Airlines. It was the first airline of India to operate with all new aircrafts.

Air Deccan
For the middle class, the dream of flying has turned possible with the coming of Air Deccan. Air Deccan is the first low cost airline of India. It is a part of the Deccan Aviation Private Limited. It was established in the 2003 and started its operations from that year itself. Captain GR Gopinath is one of the Managing Directors of the company and is one of the founders of the Air Deccan. Presently Air Deccan covers around 57 destinations in India. Air Deccan, the leading discount operator has come as a boon for the common man.

GoAir Airlines
GoAir is a low cost budget airline that is based in Mumbai. The leading Indian brands of Bombay Dyeing and Britannia are the promoters of the airline. GoAir is the brainchild of Jeh Wadia, who is also the Managing Director of the airline. The services offered is totally quality based, punctual and affordable. The airlines theme line is 'Experience-the Difference'. Currently the airline covers 13 destinations. Some of them are: Hyderabad, Delhi, Goa, Jaipur, Jammu, Pune, Mumbai and Srinagar.

Spice Jet Airlines
Spice Jet like GoAir is also a low cost airline based in New Delhi. The main motto of Spice Jet is to become no.1 low cost airline of India by offering lowest airfares to the middle class customers. It's objective in a nutshell is to provide the benefits of travelling by air to everyone. The Spice Jet Airlines began its operation in 2005. Earlier it was known as Royal Airways. The fleet of aircrafts that it owns promises excellent technology and trend. It currently flies to 11 destinations - Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Jammu, Kolkata, Mumbai, Srinagar.

IndiGo Airline
IndiGo Airlines is one of the new entrants in the aviation industry. Its inaugural flight took off from Delhi to Imphal in August 2006. The airline targets those class of people who are cost conscious and look for affordable, punctual and hassle free services. It has a fleet of certain aircrafts that are technological advanced. The IndiGo Airline has plans to serve around 30 Indian cities with a fleet of 40 Airbus A - 320 s by 2010. The cities on which they are concentrating are: Delhi, Hyderbad, Mumbai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Bangalore and Nagpur.