Low-cost airlines in India (and a bonus fact)
I watched Soorarai Pottru (for the second time) and I was impressed by it. The story of struggle to create a business has been shown very emotionally in this movie. It made me want to know more about this field. I came across many low cost airlines and here is that list.
- Air Deccan
The movie I told you about is based on Captain Gopinath’s life and his book, Simply Fly. He is considered to be the pioneer of budget airlines in India. It became famous for its vast reach, because of 1 rupee tickets, and connections to second tier cities like Hubli and Visakhapatnam. In 2003, Air Deccan became the first low cost airline to fly all across India.
An add on, if you understand Kannada. This episode of Weekend With Ramesh brings Captain Gopinath to hot seat and his life story is eye-catching.
- SpiceJet
SpiceJet is based in Gurgaon, Haryana, and it started operations in 2005. It entered the Indian market with a fare of Rs. 99 for the first 99 days. Because of these offers, it was successful in capturing railway passengers to an extent.
As per wikipedia, SpiceJet had a market share of 13.6% in India in 2019.
- IndiGo
IndiGo was founded in 2005, and it started operations in 2006. It had a phenomenal growth and by 2010, it was the third largest airline in India. in 2012 February, it purchased its 50th aircraft which was phenomenal.
IndiGo grew at a rapid pace, making and shattering its own records. Its biggest order from Airbus was a staggering sum of 2.3 lakh crores. In October 2015, IndiGo got listed as a publicly traded company. As of 2022 February 3rd, IndiGo’s market cap is over 75,000 crores.
- GoAir
The effort for low-cost airlines came from all parts of India. GoAir was founded in Mumbai in 2005. The growth of GoAir has been steady and less rapid compared to the other giants in this sector. In 2011, GoAir was named the ‘Best Performing Airline’ in Asia and Africa of all Airbus A320 operators by Airbus. In April 2012, it became the fifth largest airline in India in market share.
In 2021, GoAir was rebranded as Go First. Go First wants to get listed as a public company in 2022.
- Air Sahara
Air Sahara, or Sahara Airlines as it was called before, began operations in 1993. It was started by Sahara India Pariwar. Yes, the same company that was the sponsor of Indian cricket from 2001 to 2013. In its early years, Air Sahara focused mainly in North India. After 2000, it covered the whole of India. In 2004, it became an international carrier. It was later acquired by Jet Airways, in its second attempt.
Now the bonus fact. Pacific Southwest Airlines was the world’s low cost airline which connected South and North California on 6th May. 1949.
