Air India

Founded as Tata Airlines in 1932, Air India was renamed in 1946 and became the country’s national flag carrier in 1953. Headquartered at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, it also has a hub in the western city of Mumbai. A member of the Star Alliance, Air India also operates a subsidiary, Air India Express, a low cost airline specialising in domestic routes. Passenger numbers have been rebounding following the COVID-19 pandemic, with 18.5 million passengers travelling in 2023, still down on the 2019 peak of 22.5 million, but a significant improvement on the 11.5 million of 2022.

India is the most populous country on Earth, and much of Air India’s focus is on domestic travel, connecting this huge country. The airline flies to 44 domestic destinations in total, including important hubs such as Chennai, Goa, Mumbai, Amritsar and Hyderabad. Internationally, routes connect India to 37 countries around the world, with important routes including Dubai, London, Singapore, Bangkok, Sydney, San Francisco, Milan and New York.