The country’s airline industry is poised for expansion with more than 1,100 planes on order by various domestic carriers. 

After more than 17 years, Air India, now owned by the Tata Group, on Tuesday placed orders for a total of 470 planes with Airbus and Boeing. The total order, comprising wide-body and narrow-body aircraft, is the largest so far by an Indian carrier and also one of the largest single aircraft orders in the world. 

The country’s largest airline, IndiGo, has around 500 planes on order, and Akasa Air has placed an order for 72 Boeing narrow-body aircraft, out of which 16 planes have been delivered. That leaves Akasa Air with 56 aircraft on order. 

Go First, earlier known as Go Air, has 72 planes on order, while Vistara is to receive 17 more Boeing planes. 

Together, Air India, IndiGo, Akasa Air, Go First and Vistara have at least 1,115 planes on order. 

Currently, there are around 700 commercial aircraft in the country, with a majority of them being narrow-body or single-aisle planes. 

Among others, around 470 aircraft of Airbus and about 159 Boeing planes are in commercial service in India. 

India is one of the fastest-growing aviation markets in the world, and aircraft-maker Boeing on Tuesday projected that the country would require around 2,210 new planes in the next two decades and also pegged annual domestic air traffic growth to be nearly 7 per cent through 2041.