Indian (formerly Indian Airlines) came into being with the enactment of the Air Corporations Act 1953 and was entrusted with the responsibility of providing air transportation within the country as well as to the neighbouring countries. Indian was given the task to assimilate various dimensions of the eight private airlines, which were nationalized to provide well coordinated, adequate, safe, efficient and economical air services. The airlines began its operation on 1st August, 1953. At the time of nationalization, Indian inherited a fleet of 99 aircraft consisting of various types of aircraft which were gradually replaced by Viscount, F27 and HS748. In 1964 the jet era in Indian began when the Caravelle aircraft was inducted into the fleet. Between 1970s and 1980s Indian started inducting first batch of wide-bodied Airbus A320 aircraft. Latest acquisition in Indian’s fleet, the Airbus A319, was inducted in December, 2005.

Today, Indian, together with its fully owned subsidiary Alliance Air, has a fleet of 70 aircraft (3 wide bodied airbus A300s, 47 fly-by-wire airbus A320s, 3 Airbus A319s, 11 Boeing 737s, 2 Dornier Do-228 aircraft and 4 ATR-42. Additionally, Indian has already placed order for 43 new aircraft (i.e. 19 A319s, 4 A320s & 21 A321s) and their induction is expected to commence w.e.f. November 2006.

Indian has been setting the standards for civil aviation in India since its inception in 1953. It has many firsts to its credit, including introduction of the wide-bodied A300 aircraft on the domestic network, the fly-by-wire A320, domestic shuttle service, walk in flights and easy fares. Its unique logo emblazoned on the tails of all its aircraft has become synonymous with service, efficiency and reliability.

The airline’s network spans from Kuwait in the west to Singapore in the east and covers 76 destinations - 58 within India and 18 abroad. The Indian’s international network covers Kuwait, Oman, UAE, Qatar and Bahrain in West Asia; Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Mayanmar in South East Asia and Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives in the South Asia sub-continent.

Indian is presently fully owned by the Government of India and has a total staff strength of around 19300 employees including that of Alliance Air.

Indian’s flight operations centre around its four main hubs the main metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai. Together with its subsidiary Alliance Air, Indian carries a total of over 7.5 million passengers annually.

Customers can purchase Indian tickets through online (using credit card), from its various sales agents nationwide or from its 24x7 customer care center - 1800 180 1407 (BSNL/MTNL).