India Short-Haul Aircraft Market: Current Analysis and Forecast (2025-2033)

India Short-Haul Aircraft Market Size & Forecast

The India Short-Haul Aircraft market was valued at USD ~200 million in 2024 and is expected to grow to a strong CAGR of around 18.45% during the forecast period (2025-2033F), owing to sustained domestic passenger growth, government-led regional connectivity, and the addition of new routes.

Short-Haul Aircraft Market Analysis

The short-haul aircraft market in India includes aircraft that are mainly utilized on domestic and near international flights, usually less than -2-3 hours, between metros and tier-1/2/3 cities, and in high-frequency services. Single aisle narrowbodies dominate the portion of trunk routes, which are supplemented by regional aircraft (turboprops and smaller jets) where demand is weaker, or the airport infrastructure is limited. Several factors support market momentum, such as high growth in domestic travel, growing urbanization and disposable incomes, growing airline network depth, and ongoing airport development in states. Slot constraints at large airports also influence capacity, forcing carriers to move to more extensive utilization, shorter turnaround, and gauge optimization to achieve maximum use of the seats and stay schedule reliable.

India Short-Haul Aircraft Market Trends

This section discusses the key market trends that are influencing the various segments of the India Short-Haul Aircraft market, as found by our team of research experts.

Upgrading on high-density domestic corridors:

High-density domestic up-gauging is an emerging fleet and network trend in the short-haul market in India. On trunk routes like metro-to-metro and metro-to-large tier-1, the rate of demand growth is exceeding the capacity of airports to introduce proportionate new slots. Airlines are reacting by using bigger narrowbodies and more compact cabin designs to raise the number of seats per move and unit economics. Bigger-gauge planes also contribute to carriers' peak-hour capacity, lowering the operating cost per seat, and better utilizing limited gate and runway capacity- especially at busy hubs. Operationally, to enable schedule reliability, up-gauging helps to cluster frequencies in which the turnaround infrastructure would be stretched and still preserves connectivity waves in the hub-and-spoke networks. To lessors and OEMs, this moves near-term demand towards high-density single-aisle versions, and it puts a premium on performance, quick turn times, and a high level of dispatch reliability on short-cycle operations.

Short-Haul Aircraft Industry Segmentation

This section provides an analysis of the key trends in each segment of the India Short-Haul Aircraft market report, along with forecasts at the regional and state levels for 2025-2033.

The regional Jets segment held the dominant share of the India Short-Haul Aircraft Market in 2024.

Based on aircraft type, the Indian Short-haul aircraft market is segmented into regional jets, narrowbody, turboprops, and others. Among them, the major market share has been held by regional jets. This leadership is nurtured by the fact that they can serve thin and medium density routes relatively profitably, especially between tier-2 and tier-3 cities, where the demand is still young, and frequencies are important. The regional jets also have better block times, overtaking the turboprops on longer short-haul routes, and retain right-sized capacity over the narrowbodies, which aid airlines in safeguarding yields and enhancing load factors. They are highly suited to the emerging network requirements in India due to their operational flexibility, i.e., good climb performance, compatibility with a broad spectrum of airport infrastructure, and potential to be used in multi-sector day-to-day operation. Moreover, regional jets are commonly employed to offer feeder connectivity service to major hubs, which enhances hub-and-spoke economics and facilitates network expansion in general.

The 50-100 seating capacity segment is expected to grow with a significant CAGR during the forecast period (2025-2033).

The market of the Indian short-haul aircraft is divided into Less than 50, 50-100, 100-150, and 150 and above based on seating capacity. Among them, the 50-100 has been the greatest market share holder. Due to a high demand for high-frequency regional connectivity, where airlines require the appropriate balance of capacity and cost per seat, this dominance is motivated. Planes in this range can be used profitably in Tier-2 and Tier-3 flights, shorter runways, and high utilization with short turnaround times. They are also compatible with the developing UDAN-like network planning and feeder traffic to metro hubs.

South India held a notable market share of the Short-Haul Aircraft Market in 2024.

The short-haul aircraft market in South India is facilitated by high demand in intercity travel in key hubs like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Kochi due to the presence of a high number of business travelers, movement related to education, and tourism. Trunk routes are anchored by high-frequency connectivity to the metros of Mumbai, Delhi, and other metros, and trunk routes are extended to tier-2/3 cities within Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh to enhance the regional network. The region has a relatively strong airport infrastructure and a variety of operationally viable secondary airports, which can be used to increase the use and reduce turnaround. There is also the short-haul growth through international near routes to the Middle East and Sri Lanka, which supplements aircraft deployment economics and the entire year demand.

Short-Haul Aircraft Industry Competitive Landscape

The India Short-Haul Aircraft market is competitive, with several global and international market players. The key players are adopting different growth strategies to enhance their market presence, such as partnerships, agreements, collaborations, new product launches, geographical expansions, and mergers and acquisitions.

Top India Short-Haul Aircraft Companies

Some of the major players in the market are Airbus, Boeing, ATR, Embraer, De Havilland Canada, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), United Aircraft Corporation / Yakovlev, Textron Aviation, and Pilatus Aircraft.

India Short-Haul Aircraft Market Report Coverage

Reasons to Buy the India Short-Haul Aircraft Market Report:

• The study includes market sizing and forecasting analysis confirmed by authenticated key industry experts.

• The report briefly reviews overall industry performance at a glance.

• The report covers an in-depth analysis of prominent industry peers, primarily focusing on key business financials, type portfolios, expansion strategies, and recent developments.

• Detailed examination of drivers, restraints, key trends, and opportunities prevailing in the industry.

• The study comprehensively covers the market across different segments.

• Deep dive regional-level analysis of the industry.

Customization Options:

The India Short-Haul Aircraft market can further be customized as per the requirements or any other market segment. Besides this, UnivDatos understands that you may have your own business needs; hence, feel free to contact us to get a report that completely suits your requirements.