According to the data revealed by the civil aviation ministry of India, Jet Airways Group stood out to be country's largest domestic air services operator in 2008. It is estimated that private carrier Jet Airways and its low-cost airline JetLite have ferried some 12.01 million passengers for a market share of 29.5 percent. Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines and its budget carrier Kingfisher Red claimed the second position by offering services to 11.26 million passengers.

 

Vijay Mallya's airlines captured 27.6 percent market share. On the other hand, the state-run Air India's domestic operations failed drastically and continued to lose its market share. Air India ferried just 6.63 million passengers for a market share of 16.3 percent. It was in a better poison in 2007 with 19 percent market share.

 

Talking to media about the growth rate of the company, a spokesperson for Jet Airways said that the company has been the market leader since 2000 and it hopes to maintain its position in the coming years. Air India said that it expects to improve its market share in the current year.

 

The data from aviation ministry also showed that Indian domestic carriers together ferried 40.7 million passengers in 2008. In 2007, the Indian carriers carried 42.8 million passengers. The comparison revealed that there is a marginal drop of 5 percent in terms of market share.