The top 10 airlines in India

The Indian aviation sector is flying high with domestic passenger traffic posting strong growth during the January-August 2010 period.

During this period, 339.09 lakh (33.9 million) passengers travelled across India, as against 284.24 lakh (28.42 million) in the corresponding period of year 2009, registering a growth of 19.3 per cent.

While Jet Airways has retained its leadership position in India, it also tops in passenger complaints, according to latest data from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

on India's top airlines and their performance...

Jet Airways: Rank 1

Jet Airways is the No.1 airline in India, with a market share of 27 per cent. While Jet Airways has a market share of 19.5 per cent, its subsidiary JetLite has a share of 7.5 per cent. Jet Airways has also seen the the highest on-time performance of 94 per cent.

Meanwhile, Jet Airways received 4.7 complaints per 10,000 passengers and Jet Lite received 3.5 complaints, with the highest number of cancellation of flights at 10.5 per cent. Jet Airways saw 6.6 per cent cancellation of flights in August.

Jet Airways commenced operations in India in 1993. It operates flights to 23 international destinations and 43 destinations within India.

Jet Airways and Jet Lite together flew flew 55.88 lakh (5.588 million) passengers from January to July 2010 in the domestic sector

Naresh Goyal is the founder chairman of Jet Airways.

JetLite is a wholly owned subsidiary of Jet Airways India Ltd. It operates 110 flights on a daily basis connecting 25 domestic and 2 international destinations.

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Kingfisher Airlines: Rank 2

Kingfisher Airlines is at the No.2 position with a market share of 20 per cent in August.

Kingfisher has an on-time performance of 87.5 per cent. The flight cancellations stood at 1.6 per cent in August. The airline received 1.8 complaints per 10,000 passengers.

Owned by Bangalore-based United Breweries Group, Kingfisher Airlines was established in 2003.

The airline flew 63.06 lakh (6.3 million) passengers from January to July 2010 in the domestic sector.

The airlines started commercial operations in 2005 with a fleet of four Airbus A320-200s operating a flight from Mumbai to Delhi. It started international operations in September 2008. Today, it operates a fleet of 66 aircraft.

Vijay Mallya is the chairman of the company, which employs around 7,590 people.

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NACIL

The National Aviation Company of India, which operates Air India, Indian Airlines, Air India Express and Alliance takes the third position with a market share of 18.3 per cent.

It has an on-time performance of 82 per cent. Nacil had flight cancellation of 1 per cent in August. Nacil had the least number of complaints, 0.6 per 10,000 passengers.

 In 2007, Indian Airlines was merged with Air India along with Air India Express and Alliance Air to form NACIL.

Arvind Jadhav is the chairman and managing director.

Indian Airlines: Rank 3

Indian Airlines started its operations on 1 August 1953. On 7 December 2005, the airline was rebranded as Indian.

The airline flew 41.97 (4.197 million) passengers from January to July 2010 in the domestic sector.

Indian Airlines operates flights to 76 destinations, 58 within India and 18 abroad.

The airlines flies to all key cities of India that include Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Pune, Goa, Chennai along with many regional destinations like Ahmedabad, Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Bhubaneswar and Ranchi.

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Air India: Rank 4

Air India is India's oldest carrier and has a worldwide network of passenger and cargo services. It has a well maintained fleet of 48 aircraft covering short, medium and long haul routes.

It operates to 95 destinations all across the country and globe. The airline flew 1,98,949 passengers from January to July 2010 in the domestic sector.

Air India Express: Rank 5

Air India Express, the wholly owned subsidiary of Air India is based in Mumbai. The airline started its operations on April 29, 2005. It connects about ten international and eleven key destinations across the country. The airline flew 1,76,549 passengers from January to July 2010 in the domestic sector.

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IndiGo: Rank 6

With a market share of 16.4 per cent in August, IndiGo is ranked at fourth position. It has an on-time performance of 89.9 per cent.

A budget airline, it is owned by InterGlobe Enterprises. IndiGo operates to destinations like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Goa, Kolkata and Chennai.

IndiGo took off its inaugural flight on August 4, 2006.With a fleet size of 22 aircraft, it operates 147 daily flights across the country.

The airline flew 46.16 lakh (4.616 million) passengers from January to July 2010 in the domestic sector.

Aditya Ghosh is the president of IndiGo.

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SpiceJet: Rank 7

SpiceJet comes next with a market share of 12.6 per cent. It has an on-time performance of 82.7 per cent. SpiceJet received 3.5 complaints per 10,000 passengers.

It flies to Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Goa, Kolkata and Pune. Recently, media magnate Kalanithi Maran acquired a majority stake in SpiceJet for an estimated Rs 750 crore (Rs 7.5 billion).

The airline flew 31. 87 lakh (3.187 million) passengers from January to July 2010 in the domestic sector. Kapil Bhatia is the executive chairman of InterGlobe Enterprises.

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GoAir: Rank 8

GoAir is ranked sixth with a market share of 5.7 per cent in August. It has an on-time performance of 80.1 per cent. GoAir received 1.8 complaints per 10,000 passengers.

GoAir was established in June 2004 by the Wadia Group, majority owners of Bombay Dyeing and Britannia Industries.

Go Air, a low-fare carrier, launched its air service with two leased Airbus A320s in October 2005.The airline currently operates across 16 destinations with 120 daily flights and approximately 847 weekly flights.

The airlines flew 16.51 lakh (1.651 million) passengers from January to July 2010 in the domestic sector. Jeh Wadia is the managing director of Go Airlines.

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Paramount Airways: Rank 9

Paramount Airways is the first airline in India to launch the new generation Embraer 170/190 family series aircraft. It was founded in October 2005.

The airline flies to Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Madurai and Thiruvanathapuram.

The airline is looking to place an order for 15 more Brazilian Embraer aircraft in phases within the next months. These include ten 86-seater Embraer 175 and five 118-seater Embraer 195.

Currently, the airline runs as many as 20 flights on a daily basis. The airline flew 2,41,644 passengers from January to July 2010 in the domestic sector.

M Thiagarajan is the managing director of Paramount Airways.

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MDLR Airlines: Rank 10

MDLR, is wholly owned by the MDLR (Murli Dhar Lakh Ram) group, a leader in the commercial and real estate industry.

Based in Gurgaon, MDLR Airlines started operations on 14 March 2007. MDLR currently operates three 70-seater aircraft, AVRO RJ 70. Besides, the economy class, MDLR Airlines offers club seats to business travellers.

The airline operates regular flights to Chandigarh , Delhi, Ranchi,Kolkata, Dehradun, Dharamsala. It flew 1,14,512 passengers from January to July 2010 in the domestic sector.

Gopal Goyal is the chairman and managing director of MDLR.