Airways in India are considered as very significant transport owing to the country"s vast size and long distances involved between two cities. Moreover, the airways network is also supported by climate. The advantages of air transportation are numerous. Speed and ease are the two most significant advantages that can conveniently cross mountain barriers, large water expanses, sandy deserts, etc. All these advantages make airways an indispensable one.

Airport Authority of India (AAI) looks after all the civil airports in India. Providing secured, competent air traffic services and aeronautical communication services is the basic occupation of Airport Authority of India.

History of Airways in India
The first domestic commercial air travel in India had started in February of the year 1911. The flight was from Allahabad to Nainital which was a distance of just 6 miles. With the passage of time, air travel in India has improved to a large extent. The first commercial airline that had started operating in India was Tata Airlines in the year 1933 and in the year 1945 the second domestic airline industry in India had begun with the name Deccan Airways. In 1946 Tata Airways had changed its name to AirIndia and in 1947 AirIndia had signed an agreement with the Government of India to begin its international operation.

Various Airways in India
Government of India has embraced a new "Open Skies" Policy. Private companies in India, with pre-determined foreign partnership, if needed, can now vie with two major public undertakings – Indian Airlines and AirIndia. Excluding Indian Airlines, now there are various scheduled private airlines, rendering regular domestic services. Presently there are several players in the field of airlines in India. They are as follows:


•AirIndia: AirIndia is the largest international airline carrier of India, flies to a total of 89 destinations across the world. The flag carrier airline of India is the third largest domestic airline in India.


•IndiGo: IndiGo is the largest airline service in India and a low cost carrier that operates to 48 destinations. The airline became the largest Indian carrier and operates more than 1000 daily flights.


•Jet Airways: Jet Airways is the second largest airline in India and covers the 68 destinations worldwide. Jet Airways acquire one of the largest aircraft in India named as Boeing 777-300ER. Presently, the flight operations are shut down from April 2019.


•SpiceJet: SpiceJet operates 312 daily flights to international and domestic destinations, hubs at Delhi and Hyderabad.


•GoAir: GoAir is the low cost carrier that operates over 140 daily flights. It is the fifth largest airline in India.


•Vistara: Vistara is the joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines under the brand name of Tata SIA Airlines Limited. The Indian domestic airline operates 22 destinations within India.


•AirIndia Express: AirIndia Express is subsidiary of AirIndia headquartered in Kochi, operates international and domestic.

Development of Airways in India
After independence, aviation industry in India has made considerable progress. India has both domestic and international airlines. Domestic airlines operate regularly between all important towns. However, the international airlines have a limited number of air connections with other countries. In Indian sub-continent, air services are controlled by the Indian Airlines. Regular flights are run between important towns like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Shimla, Chennai, Srinagar, Guwahati, Silchar, Dibrugarh, Agartala, etc. Further, owing to India`s central position, several foreign airline services pass through India. Airways in India, right from its beginning till date have come up a long way and several airlines in the country have a considerable market share.