List of defunct airlines of India
This is a list of defunct airlines of India.
| Airline | Image | IATA | ICAO | Callsign | Commenced operations | Ceased operations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Carnival |  | 2S | ACV | CARNAIR | 2016 | 2017 | |
| Air Costa |  | LB | LEP | LECOSTA | 2013 | 2017 | |
| Air India Cargo |  | AI | AIC | AIRINDIA | 1932 | 2012 | Still operates cargo via belly in passenger planes |
| Air India Regional | _JP7687822.jpg) | CD;9I | LLR | ALLIED | 2007 | 2017 | Called Alliance Air from 1996 to 2007 then renamed back to Alliance Air in 2017. |
| Air Mantra | M1 | MANTRA | 2012 | 2013 | |||
| Air Odisha | 6X | ODISHA | 2011 | 2019 | |||
| Air Pegasus |  | OP | PPL | PEGASUS | 2007 | 2016 | |
| Air Sahara |  | S2 | RSH | 2000 | 2007 |
Merged into Jet Lite, later merged into Jet Airways. | |
| Air Services of India | 1946 | 1953 | |||||
| AirAsia India |  | I5 | IAD | RED KNIGHT | 2014 | 2022 |
Acquired by Tata Group, renamed to AIX Connect, AIX connect merged into air India express |
| Airways (India)[1] | 1945 | 1955 | |||||
| AIX Connect | I5 | IAD | RED KNIGHT | 2022 | 2024 | Merged into Air India Express | |
| Ambica Airlines | 1947 | 1949 | |||||
| Archana Airways | F5 | ACY | ARCHANA | 1991 | 1999 | ||
| Aryan Cargo Express | _(cn_544)_Aryan_Cargo_Express._(14209983065).jpg) | YE | ACQ | ACE CARGO | 2005 | 2010 | Stored in Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai |
| Chhattisgarh Air Link | 2012 | 2019 | |||||
| Crescent Air Cargo | C8 | CAC | 2000 | 2006 | |||
| Damania Airways[2] | D2 | DMQ | 1993 | 1997 | Renamed/merged to Skyline NEPC | ||
| Darbhanga Aviation | 1950 | 1962 | |||||
| Deccan 360[3] |  | 3C | DEC | DECCAN CARGO | 2009 | 2011 | |
| Deccan Airways[1] |  | 1945 | 1953 | ||||
| Dove Airlines | 2007 | 2015 | |||||
| East-West Airlines | W2 | EWT | 1992 | 1995 | |||
| Easy Air | 2015 | 2015 | Owned by Premier Airways | ||||
| Elbee Airlines | LBE | 1994 | 1998 | ||||
| FlyBig | S9 | FLG | KRIS | 2020 | 2025 | ||
| Gujarat Airways[4] | G8 | GUJ | GUJARATI | 1995 | 2001 | ||
| GoAir |  | G8 | GOW | GOAIR | 2005 | 2021 | Renamed to Go First |
| Go First | G8 | GOW | GOAIR | 2021 | 2023 | Liquidated | |
| Handley Page Indo-Burmese Transport[5] | First airline in present-day India, operated in the early 1920s | ||||||
| Himalayan Air Transport & Survey[6] | 1934 | 1935 | |||||
| Himalayan Aviation | 1948 | 1953 | Renamed to Indian Airlines | ||||
| Hinduja Cargo Services | .jpg) | LF | LCI | 1996 | 2000 | ||
| Indian Airlines (new) |  | IC | IAC | INDAIR | 2007 | 2011 | Merged into Air India |
| Indian Airlines |  | IC | IAC | INDAIR | 1953 | 2007 | Renamed to Indian, also had Indian Airlines Flight 814 hijack |
| Indian National Airways | 1925 | 1945 | |||||
| Indian Overseas Airlines | 1947 | 1950 | |||||
| Indus Air | .jpg) | O9 | ACY | 2006 | 2007 | ||
| Irrawaddy Flotilla & Airways[7] | 1934 | 1939 | Its fall was triggered by the Japanese invasion of Burma in 1942[8][9] | ||||
| Jagson Airlines |  | JGN | JAGSON | 2005 | 2010 | ||
| Jamair | 1946 | 1977 | |||||
| Jet Airways | .jpg) | 9W | JAI | JET AIRWAYS | 1993 | 2019 | Liquidated |
| Jet Konnect |  | S2 | JLL | 2009 | 2014 | Merged into Jet Airways, Liquidated | |
| JetLite |  | S2 | RSH/JLL | 2007 | 2012 | Renamed/merged with Jet Konnect | |
| Jupiter Airways[10] | 1948 | 1953 | |||||
| Kairali Airlines | 2013 | 2017 | |||||
| Kalinga Airlines | 1946 | 1965 | |||||
| Kingfisher Airlines | _(2).jpg) | IT | KFR | KINGFISHER | 2003 | 2012 | Liquidated |
| Kingfisher Red | DN | DKN | 2008 | 2012 | |||
| MDLR Airlines | 9H | MDL | MDLR | 2007 | 2009 | ||
| Mistri Airways | 1946 | 1947 | Renamed Indian Overseas Airlines | ||||
| ModiLuft |  | HT, M9 | MOD | MODILUFT | 1994 | 1996 | Was converted into SpiceJet by Ajay Singh[8] |
| NEPC Airlines |  | D5 | NEP | 1993 | 1997 | ||
| Orient Airways | 1946 | 1955 | Became Pakistan International Airlines after transfer from Kolkata, India to Karachi, Pakistan | ||||
| Paramount Airways |  | I7 | PMW | PARAWAY | 2005 | 2010 | |
| Pushpaka Airlines | 1979 | 1983 | |||||
| Sahara Airlines |  | S2 | RSH | 1993 | 2000 | Renamed to Air Sahara | |
| Simplifly Deccan |  | DN | DKN | DECCAN | 2007 | 2008 | Merged into Kingfisher Airlines |
| Supreme Airlines | 2016 | 2018 | |||||
| Transportes Aéreos da Índia Portuguesa | 1955 | 1961 | Operated from Portuguese India | ||||
| TruJet |  | 2T | TRJ | TRUJET | 2015 | 2022 | Ceased all operations in February 2022 |
| UP Air | 1995[11] | 1998[12] | |||||
| Vayudoot |  | PF | VDT | VAYU | 1981 | 1997 | |
| VIF Airways | V2 | VIF | 1995[13] | 1996 | Based at Begumpet airport, Hyderabad, operated 30-seat Dornier 328-110 aircraft. | ||
| Vistara |  |
UK | VTI | VISTARA | 2013 | 2024 | Merged into Air India |
| Zooom Air | ZO | ZOM | ZOOM | 2013 | 2024 |
See also
References
- 1 2 "Airline Timetable Images - List of Complete Timetables". Timetableimages.com.
- ↑ "1991-Privatisation of airlines: Flights of fancy". India Today. 17 Dec 2009. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
- ↑ "State Bank of India opposes airline licence for new venture of Capt Gopinath". Econominctimes.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
- ↑ "World Airline Directory". Flight-Global. 31 March 1999. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
- ↑ Ranter, Harro. "Aviation Safety Network > ASN Aviation Safety Database > Operator index > India > Handley Page Indo-Burmese Transport". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ↑ "Airlines - India". Airlinehistory.co.uk.
- ↑ "A Short History of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company". Travel-news-photos-stories.com.
- 1 2 Nair, Tejas (28 April 2019). "List: Airlines in India and Their Fall". nair tejas dot com.
- ↑ "Irrawaddy flotilla company, 1865 - 1950". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
- ↑ "The plane that made India fly". The Hindu. 20 November 2006. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
- ↑ "UP Airways becomes first to launch air-taxi service with a private airline in India". India Today. 15 May 1995. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
- ↑ "Life After The Big Sellout". Business Standard. 9 May 1998. Retrieved 8 October 2025.
- ↑ "India's VIF Airways". AviationWeek. 20 April 1995. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
Further reading
- Dhekney M.R., Air transport in India, Vora & Co. Pibl. Ltd., Bombay, 1953
- Anwar M., Civil aviation in India, Thacker/Spink, Calcutta, 1954
- A.-Tata J.R.D., The story of Indian air transport, Royal Aeronautical Society, London, 1960
- Sen A.-Tata J.R.D., Five golden decades of India aviation : Tata's memorable years, Aeronautical Publications of India, Bombay, 1978
- History of civil aviation in India, Ministry of Civil Aviation & FICCI, 2008
- The aerospace almanac of India, The Society for Aerospace Studies, New Delhi, various years