Domestic Flights in India: List of Active Airlines

The 2026 Skies: Two Giants Hold the Reins

The market has consolidated into a near-duopoly: IndiGo controls between 57% and 64% of the passenger market, while the newly consolidated Air India Group holds roughly 27%. The remaining share is divided among six smaller carriers.

That is not a large competitive field, particularly when some of those airlines operate regional networks, limited frequencies, or a relatively narrow selection of city pairs. On the busiest domestic routes, the practical choice is often IndiGo versus Air India or Air India Express, with the other carriers appearing only on certain schedules.

For a foreign traveler building a multi-city itinerary, the airline you book shapes more than the fare. It affects route availability, baggage allowance, aircraft type, connection risk, airport choice, and what happens if a delay forces you to miss the next sector. It also determines whether your ticket belongs to a large network that can rebook you or to a small regional operator with fewer alternatives.

The names themselves can be confusing. Vistara and AirAsia India have disappeared as independent booking options, while Go First and Jet Airways are defunct. A search engine that has not refreshed its airline database can still display one of those brands, particularly in old route pages or cached fare listings.

The current list of domestic airlines in India is therefore shorter than many older travel guides suggest. The useful question is not which airlines have operated in the country at some point, but which carriers are included in the approved Summer Schedule 2026 and can actually sell a confirmed scheduled flight.

The Nine Carriers Approved for Summer 2026

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) approved nine scheduled domestic passenger airlines for the Summer Schedule 2026, which runs from March 29 to October 24, 2026. The number is nine individual airlines, although the market is best understood as IndiGo, two Air India Group brands, and six smaller carriers.

Here is the practical market picture:

The table separates Air India and Air India Express because they are distinct operating brands, even though they belong to the same corporate group. They are not interchangeable products. A booking on Air India generally follows a different service model from a booking on Air India Express, even when both appear under the same wider group during a search.

The market-share figures are approximate and should not be read as a promise that one carrier will offer the most flights on every route. IndiGo’s national scale is obvious on major city pairs, but a regional airline can still be the only nonstop option between two smaller airports. Conversely, Air India Group’s overall share does not mean that every Air India Express route offers the same connection possibilities as a trunk route operated by Air India.

The confirmed Summer Schedule 2026 also reflects a reduction in scheduled domestic services compared with the previous summer schedule. That does not mean every route has disappeared, and it does not make every flight harder to find. It does mean that travelers should be more careful about assuming that a missed departure can be replaced later the same day. On smaller routes, the next suitable flight may be much later, operated by another carrier, or unavailable without changing the airport or the entire itinerary.

Several brands that used to appear regularly in booking searches are now gone as independent airlines. Vistara ceased independent operations on November 12, 2024, after completing its merger with Air India. AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India, was absorbed into Air India Express on October 1, 2024. Both names have therefore vanished from normal booking results and have been replaced by the surviving Air India brands.

Go First and Jet Airways are defunct and absent from the Summer Schedule 2026. If either name appears in a third-party booking engine, an old travel article, or a cached route page, treat it as stale information rather than as a flight option. The same caution applies to any airline that appears in a search result without a current flight number, a confirmed airport departure, and a booking that can be completed through the carrier’s own channels.

The important change for travelers is not a theoretical fleet count. It is the smaller confirmed schedule and the possibility of fewer easy alternatives after a disruption.

What counts as an active carrier

For itinerary planning, “active” should mean more than a company that once operated flights or received permission to explore a launch. A scheduled airline needs to appear in the relevant seasonal schedule and have an operating service that a passenger can actually book.

That distinction excludes several categories of aviation company that may still attract attention:

• A defunct airline can retain a familiar brand name, aircraft references, or old airport pages long after its flights have stopped.
• An airline with government approval or a No Objection Certificate is not necessarily ready to carry passengers.
• A carrier may operate charter or limited services without offering the kind of scheduled network a traveler expects from a domestic airline.
• A route can appear in an older timetable even though its frequency, aircraft, or operating carrier has since changed.
• A flight number may remain visible in a database even when the service is not currently open for sale.

The nine-airline schedule is the useful baseline for the 2026 summer season. It does not guarantee that every listed route will operate daily, or that every small carrier will offer the same frequency throughout the season. Schedules can also change after publication because of aircraft availability, airport constraints, operational decisions, or seasonal demand.

For a foreign traveler, the safest interpretation is practical rather than absolute: an airline belongs on your working list when you can find a current flight, see the operating carrier clearly, and complete the booking with usable fare and contact details.

What the Air India Group Actually Looks Like Now

The Air India Group is no longer a single airline in the old sense. It is a group of two distinct operating brands under one corporate roof. Air India has been positioned as the full-service carrier with international ambitions, while Air India Express covers lower-cost, high-density domestic and short-haul international flying.

Together, the two brands provide the main alternative to IndiGo on many important routes. They should still be compared separately when you are choosing a ticket. A lower fare on Air India Express may come with a different baggage structure, seat-selection policy, onboard service, or connection experience from a similarly timed Air India flight.

For travelers who remember the pre-merger market, the change is easiest to see in the booking process. Vistara no longer appears as an independent choice, and the AirAsia India identity has been absorbed into Air India Express. The result is fewer brands in the search results, but a larger combined network behind the Air India name.

A passenger who booked Vistara in 2023 and flew after late 2024 may have experienced the transition in stages: the booking history, flight number, airport process, and aircraft identity did not all change at exactly the same moment. That transitional period has now given way to the merged structure. On current searches, the relevant question is not whether Vistara still operates a particular route. It does not. The question is whether Air India or Air India Express operates that route and under what conditions.

Air India Express absorbed AIX Connect without simply deleting the latter’s route map. Many of the Tier-2 and Tier-3 links associated with the former AirAsia India operation have continued under the Air India Express banner, although schedules and aircraft assignments can change. For a traveler, the brand on the ticket matters less than the details of the specific booking:

• Is the flight nonstop, or does it require a connection?
• Which airline is listed as the operating carrier?
• Is the connection protected on one ticket?
• How much checked baggage is included?
• Does the arrival airport match the next departure airport?
• Are both sectors sold as one itinerary or as separate tickets?

These questions are particularly important when combining domestic and international flights. A ticket sold by one group brand may involve another operating brand, and the difference can affect check-in, baggage handling, and the amount of time needed between flights.

The result, for anyone comparing domestic airlines in India, is that “Air India” now exists in two noticeably different forms: a more traditional full-service product on one side and a value-oriented product on the other. That distinction is much clearer than it was before the mergers.

Air India Group versus IndiGo

IndiGo remains the default carrier for much of the country because its network is broad and its schedule depth is usually strongest on major domestic corridors. Air India Group matters because it provides the main competing network and, in some cases, a better fit for a foreign visitor connecting through an international arrival.

Neither group is automatically the better choice. A traveler carrying checked luggage may value the fare rules and allowance of one ticket, while another may prefer the departure time of a low-cost service. A connection involving an international flight also deserves more caution than a simple point-to-point domestic trip. The cheapest domestic sector can become expensive if a self-booked connection requires a new ticket after a delay.

A useful way to compare the two is to look beyond the headline fare:

The table is not a substitute for reading the conditions of an individual ticket. Indian domestic fares can look similar until seat selection, checked baggage, or a change becomes necessary.

The Newcomers Waiting in the Wings

Three startup airlines received No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from the Ministry of Civil Aviation by late 2025, signaling plans to launch scheduled operations in 2026. None had yet received an Air Operator Certificate (AOC), the final regulatory hurdle before carrying paying passengers. They therefore should not be included in a live list of bookable domestic airlines.

Their planned regional emphasis is still worth watching because it reveals where the current market has gaps:

• Shankh Air — Based in Uttar Pradesh, with a planned launch window in the first quarter of 2026. Its initial focus is expected to be northern and central Indian routes that currently depend on rail travel or indirect air connections.
• Al Hind Air — Based in Kochi, Kerala. Its NOC was granted in December 2025, and the proposed network is oriented toward southern Indian cities and short-haul routes linked to the Gulf market.
• FlyExpress — Based in Hyderabad. It also received an NOC in December 2025 and is expected to position itself as a low-cost carrier in the southern market.

Three airlines have government approval to prepare for launch in 2026. None is selling tickets as an active scheduled carrier yet, and an NOC is not the same thing as an AOC.

This is a distinction worth keeping when reading aviation announcements. A proposed airline can have a name, a base airport, a public launch target, and even an aircraft plan before it is ready for a passenger to book a confirmed seat. Certification, aircraft induction, crew approval, airport slots, and the publication of a reliable schedule all have to line up first.

The names absent from the 2026 schedule are just as relevant. FlyBig, once associated with regional operations in central India, has been excluded from the Summer Schedule 2026, so it should not be treated as an active scheduled option for a current itinerary. Go First remains grounded under insolvency proceedings. Jet Airways is defunct and is not present in the 2026 schedule; it should not be counted among Indian domestic carriers or treated as a bookable alternative.

That may sound obvious, but airline databases are not always clean. A route page can survive after an airline leaves the market, and a third-party site may show an itinerary that cannot be ticketed. Before paying, check the airline name on the final booking page and confirm that the same service is visible through a current airline or airport channel.

The Six Smaller Carriers: Where They Matter

The phrase “smaller carrier” covers very different businesses. Akasa Air is a national low-cost challenger with room to expand. SpiceJet is an established airline with a much smaller market share than it once held. Alliance Air, FLY91, Star Air, and IndiaOne Air are more relevant when a journey involves regional airports or a city pair that the largest airlines do not consider sufficiently dense.

Akasa Air

Akasa Air is the most visible younger challenger in the national market. Its share remains modest beside IndiGo, but its presence gives travelers another option on selected routes, particularly in western and southern India. It is still better understood as a growing network than as a complete alternative for a long, multi-stop itinerary across the country.

The advantage can be a competitive fare or a departure time that fits better than the larger carriers’ schedules. The limitation is simple: there may be fewer backup flights if a disruption occurs. On a direct journey that may not matter. On a day when you are connecting to an international departure, it matters a great deal.

If Akasa is the only carrier offering a convenient nonstop flight, it can be the sensible choice. The decision becomes less straightforward when the flight is an unprotected first sector in a complex itinerary. In that case, the value of a convenient departure needs to be weighed against the lack of alternative services on the same route.

SpiceJet

SpiceJet remains an established low-cost carrier even though its share is now relatively small. It can be useful on routes where IndiGo and Air India Group have thinner coverage, and its fares may be competitive when the schedule aligns with your plans.

The airline’s smaller footprint means that a traveler should look closely at the frequency of the specific flight rather than assume that another service will operate a few hours later. A low fare is less attractive if changing the ticket or finding an alternative requires crossing the country by road or spending a night near the airport.

This is especially relevant for journeys involving remote destinations or an onward international flight. Check whether the itinerary offers a realistic same-day backup. If it does not, treat the flight as a point-to-point booking that needs some buffer around it, rather than as a flexible building block.

Alliance Air

Alliance Air fills a different role from the national low-cost airlines. As a government-owned regional operator, it serves connectivity gaps that a larger commercial carrier may not consider profitable. Its routes can be especially relevant when the destination is outside the main metropolitan network.

The trade-off is a thinner schedule and a smaller operational safety net. Alliance Air may be the only practical scheduled choice to a regional airport, but that also means a missed flight can have consequences beyond the fare difference. Build flexibility into the itinerary, particularly if the flight is the first link in a longer journey.

For foreign visitors, Alliance Air can make an otherwise awkward route possible, but it may not fit neatly into a fast-moving trip. A short flight can still require a full day of planning if the next departure is not until much later. Allow time for ground transport at both ends as well: a regional airport may be farther from the destination than its city label suggests.

FLY91

FLY91 is a Goa-based regional carrier focused on selected Tier-2 and Tier-3 routes. Its value lies in connecting smaller markets without forcing every passenger through Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, or another major hub.

For foreign visitors, this can make an itinerary more efficient when the route lines up with the carrier’s schedule. It may be a better fit for a carefully planned regional journey than for an itinerary assembled at the last minute. Check the operating days, the exact airport, and the possibility of a same-day alternative before using it as a link to a major international departure.

The airline’s presence also illustrates why a simple national ranking can be misleading. A small carrier may have little influence on the overall market and still be the most useful airline for one particular journey.

Star Air

Star Air focuses on regional connectivity and underserved city pairs. It is one of the carriers worth checking when a route between smaller Indian cities does not appear in the usual IndiGo or Air India results.

The main point is not to treat Star Air as a smaller version of a nationwide airline. Its route map should be read city pair by city pair. A flight can be genuinely useful on the day it operates, but the network may not provide an easy replacement if your plans change.

When comparing Star Air with a connecting option on a larger carrier, include the total journey rather than just the time in the air. A nonstop regional flight can save a long connection, while a larger airline may provide more options if the first service is disrupted. Both can be the right answer in different itineraries.

IndiaOne Air

IndiaOne Air is a small regional operator with a limited route footprint. It belongs on the working list of active airlines, but not in the same practical category as IndiGo or the Air India Group.

Its relevance depends almost entirely on the specific airport pair. If it is the only scheduled carrier serving your destination, the choice may be straightforward. If another airline offers a slightly longer route with several daily departures, the larger network may be more useful for a time-sensitive journey.

As with the other regional carriers, verify the current schedule close to departure. A seasonal timetable is a planning baseline, not a guarantee that every flight will operate at the same frequency throughout the season.

How to Read India Domestic Flight Routes

The list of domestic flights in India is less useful than it first appears if it is read as a catalogue of airline names. The practical question is how those airlines connect the airports you actually need.

India’s major airports act as the natural meeting points of the network, but not every itinerary should be routed through a large hub. A nonstop regional flight can be preferable when it removes a connection and keeps the journey on one airport-to-airport sector. A hub connection can be preferable when it gives you more departure choices or a better chance of rebooking after a delay.

Start with the exact airport, not only the city. Large urban areas may have more than one airport or may be served by an airport that is some distance from the center. This matters when a domestic arrival is followed by another flight, especially if the second sector departs from a different terminal or airport.

A sensible comparison usually follows this order:

1. Search the nonstop route first. A direct service reduces the number of places where a delay can turn into a missed connection.

2. Check the operating carrier. The airline selling the ticket and the airline flying the aircraft are not always described in the same way.

3. Compare the full fare. Add checked baggage, seat selection, payment charges, and the cost of changing the ticket if your plans are not fixed.

4. Look at the schedule depth. Several departures on the same route create more practical options than a single convenient-looking flight.

5. Check the connection structure. A protected itinerary is different from two unrelated tickets bought for the same day.

6. Verify the airports. Confirm the departure and arrival airport codes, not just the city names.

7. Leave room around international sectors. A domestic ticket that arrives shortly before an international flight may be cheap but fragile.

This approach is more useful than choosing the airline with the largest market share by default. IndiGo will often be the obvious starting point, but it is not automatically the best answer for every route or every traveler.

Domestic connection or separate ticket?

India’s size makes self-connecting tempting. A traveler may find a cheap flight from a regional city to Delhi, Mumbai, or Bengaluru and then buy a separate ticket for the international sector. Sometimes this works perfectly. The risk is that the first airline has no responsibility for the second ticket if a delay causes you to miss it.

A single booking is not always the cheapest option, and it does not remove every operational risk. It does, however, usually create a clearer process for handling a missed connection. Separate tickets require more time, more attention to baggage, and a realistic plan for what happens if the first flight is delayed.

If you choose separate tickets, allow enough time to collect checked baggage, leave the domestic arrival area, reach the correct terminal, and check in again. Airport transfers can be slow, and the published flying time does not include any of these steps.

Capacity Shifts and Operational Trends in Indian Skies

The confirmed Summer Schedule 2026 reduction deserves a measured interpretation. It is not a reason to abandon domestic flying in India, nor does it mean that the country’s main routes are suddenly inaccessible. It is a reason to plan with less casual confidence about finding an immediate replacement.

On a major city pair, several airlines may still compete at useful times of day. On a smaller route, the schedule may be much more exposed to a single cancellation or a change in operating days. That difference is more important to a traveler than a broad national statement about the size of the aviation market.

The effect is also uneven across itinerary types:

• A simple nonstop journey may remain easy to arrange if the route has several scheduled options.
• A regional connection may require more attention because one flight can determine the entire day.
• A domestic-to-international transfer needs the largest buffer, especially when using separate tickets.
• A multi-city itinerary can become difficult if each sector depends on a different small carrier.
• A last-minute booking may show fewer suitable departure times even when the route itself remains active.

The practical response is not to avoid smaller airlines. Regional carriers are often the only reason a direct journey exists at all. The response is to understand what you are buying: a useful nonstop service, perhaps, but one with fewer alternatives if the plan changes.

That distinction also helps with fares. A cheap ticket on a carrier with one flight a day may be good value for a flexible traveler who can absorb a delay. It may be poor value for someone heading to a wedding, a cruise, a fixed international departure, or a paid event that cannot be moved.

What to verify before booking

Before committing to any airline from a domestic flights in India list, confirm the details that are most likely to affect the rest of your trip:

• The airline is included in the current scheduled operating list.
• The flight is available for sale on a current booking channel.
• The departure and arrival airports are the ones you intended.
• The operating carrier is clearly identified.
• The baggage allowance matches what you are carrying.
• The fare rules make sense for the certainty of your plans.
• A connection is protected if the itinerary depends on it.
• There is enough time between a domestic arrival and an international departure.
• The schedule is suitable even if there is no later flight that day.
• The booking confirmation contains a usable flight number and passenger record.

The final check is worth doing after payment as well. Airlines can alter schedules, terminals, and operating details. Keep an eye on the booking rather than assuming that the first confirmation is the last word.

The Working List for 2026

For most travelers, the current market can be reduced to three practical layers.

IndiGo is the dominant nationwide option and the first carrier to check for many domestic routes. Air India and Air India Express form the main competing group, but they should be compared as separate products. Akasa Air and SpiceJet can provide useful alternatives on selected national routes, while Alliance Air, FLY91, Star Air, and IndiaOne Air matter most when the itinerary includes regional airports or thinner city pairs.

The three announced startups — Shankh Air, Al Hind Air, and FlyExpress — belong in a watchlist, not in a booking plan, until they obtain the required operating certification and publish flights that passengers can actually purchase. Older brands such as Vistara, AirAsia India, Go First, Jet Airways, and FlyBig should not be used to build a current itinerary.

The best Indian domestic carriers list is therefore not simply the longest one. It is the one that distinguishes active scheduled airlines from former brands, proposed startups, and database leftovers. Once that distinction is made, comparing India domestic flight routes becomes much less confusing.

In 2026, the traveler’s advantage comes from checking the structure of the journey rather than chasing a familiar name. Look at the exact airport, the operating carrier, the schedule depth, the baggage terms, and the consequences of a missed connection. On a straightforward route, that may confirm the obvious choice. On a regional or multi-sector itinerary, it may be the difference between a smooth trip and a day spent trying to reconstruct it at the airport.