This document compares the aviation sectors of India and the US through an analysis of their economies, statistics, geographies, and histories. It finds that while the US aviation sector is much larger and more developed, India's sector has been growing rapidly in recent decades. However, India still lags behind in areas like number of airports and aircraft, domestic passenger traffic relative to population, and ticket prices. The document suggests ways for India to further develop its aviation sector, such as increasing airport infrastructure, regularizing fares, and promoting more affordable airlines.

1. COMPARISON STUDY OF INDIAN AND U.S. AVIATION SECTOR
AN ECONOMICAL, STATISTICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONTRASTING OF INDIAN AND U.S. AVIATION SECTORS
RAJIV GANDHI UNIVERSITY OF KNOWLEDGE TECHNOLOGIES
IIIT-RK VALLEY, RGUKT-AP

2. CONTENTS
 INTRODUCTION
 PASSENGERS HANDLED BY AIRLINE
INDUSTRY GLOBALLY
 HISTORY OF AVIATION
 ECONOMIC COMPARISON
 GEOGRAPHIC COMPARISON
 PASSENGER AND FRIEGHT
 AIRLINE COMPARISON
 AIRPORT COMPARISON
 OBSERVATIONS
 ROADWAY FOR THE BETTERMENT
 REFERENCES

3. INTRODUCTION
 Aviation Sector is one of the present sunrise sectors in the world.
 Fast, luxurious and safest mode of transport.
 Being a developing sector, its contribution to a country’s GDP will
also develop with time. Hence it is important to develop the nation’s
aviation Sector.
 Indian Aviation Sector though one of the oldest is still a developing
one.
 US is the Global leader in Aviation while India stands fourth in the list
by size and ninth by revenue.
 Comparison in the aspects of economy, statistics and geography has
be done and observations made accordingly.

4. OBJECTIVE
 Benchmark comparison of Indian Aviation Sector with U.S.
 Look for the major disparities that are contributing to the lag in
Indian Aviation sector.
 Suggest a Roadway for the betterment of Indian Aviation Sector.

5. PASSENGERS HANDLED BY AIRLINE INDUSTRY GLOBALLY
2489 2479
2695
2859
2991
3143
3326
3565
3815
4093
4343
4588
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500
5000
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Passengers handled by the global airline industry (In millions)
Data Source: World Bank

6. HISTORY OF AVIATION
INDIA US
FIRST FLIGHT 1895 (?) / 1903 1903
FIRST COMMERCIAL FLIGHT 1911 1914
FIRST AIRPORT JUHU AIRPORT (1928) COLLEGE PARK AIRPORT (1909)
FIRST LICENSED AIRLINE TATA AIRLINES (1932) WESTERN AIR EXPRESS (1926)
FIRST CIVIL AIRPORT JUHU AIRPORT (1928) ALBANY INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT (1928)
FIRST INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
COCHIN INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT (1997)
ALBANY INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT (1928)
FIRST AIRMAIL 1911 1911

7. GEOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS
 The area of India (3.287 Million Km²) is only 1/3rd of area of US
(9.834 million km²).
 The average distance between the busiest air routes (Top 8 Domestic
Routes) in India and US is 1207 and 1650 Km respectively.
 The major land forms of India include the mountain terrain of
Himalayas alone that obstruct the land transport else the terrestrial
transport is the most feasible mode of transport in India. Unlike US
has Appalachian Mountains, the Rocky Mountains, and the Sierra
Nevada which are between major business areas and obstruct the
land traffic.

8. ECONOMIC COMPARISION
 There is a huge GDP and Per Capita difference between the nations.
 World’s Aviation Industry contributes 3.6% to GDP.
 US aviation sector contribute 5.16% to its GDP while India contributes less than 3%
provided the difference in GDP’s of the nation.(16.79 lakh crores in 2017)
0
5
10
15
20
25
1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
GDP of India and USA (lakh crores USD)
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Per capita Income (USD)
Source: World Bank Source: World Bank

9. WHY GDP IS IMPORTANT?
The domestic passenger traffic is positively correlated to the GDP growth of the
country. As the GDP slowed in the year 2012-13, the domestic passenger growth
fell by almost 5%. Recovery in GDP post 2013-14 led to sustained growth in
domestic passengers.
Source: DGCA and Care Rating International

10. PASSENGER DATA STATISTICS
0
200000000
400000000
600000000
800000000
2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18
Passenger Data Statistics of India and U.S. Aviation Sector
International Traffic_India International Traffic_US
Domestic Traffic_India Domestic Traffic_US
Source: DGCA, BTS, FAA, Ibef

11. FRIEGHT DATA STATISTICS
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Freight (million ton-km)
India United States
Source: DGCA,FAA

12. AIRLINE COMPARISON

13. AIRLINE COMPARISON
AMERICAN AIRLINES INDIGO AIRLINES
PASSENGERS CARRIED 203.7M 43.5M
REVENUE PASSENGER MILES 231.16BN 29 BN
FLEET SIZE 964 220
DESTINATIONS 220 78
PRODUCTION OUTPUT 6,700 DAILY FLIGHTS 1300+ DAILY FLIGHTS
AVAILABLE SEAT MILES 282 BN 39.4 BN
PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR 82% 87.4%
DESTINATIONS (I & D) 70 AND 150 68 AND 57

14. AIRLINE COMPARISON (CONTINUED)
AMERICAN AIRLINES INDIGO AIRLINES
TOTAL ASSETS US $60.792 BILLION US $2.9 BILLION
EMPLOYEES 126,600(2018) 14,604(2017)
DOMESTIC MARKET SHARE 17.8% 41.3%
NET INCOME 1.4BN USD US$ 310 MILLION
ON TIME PERFOMANCE 78.66% 80.1%
DELAYS 21.33% 19.9%
Note: American Airlines is undoubtedly the best but the comparison also
suggests that IndiGo is better in aspects like operational efficiency.

15. AIRPORT COMPARISON

16. AIRPORT COMPARISON
HARTSFIELD–JACKSON ATLANTA
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
INDIRA GANDHI INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT DELHI (2017-2018)
PASSENGERS 107,394,030 (3.3% CHANGE ) 69,900,938(13.8 %)
INTERNATIONAL
PASSENGERS
11,659,891 (5%) 18,528,272(10.4%)
AIRCRAFT MOVEMENTS 895,682 (1.7 %) 493,958 (10.9%)
CARGO TONNAGE 693,790 1,031,659 (12.3 %)
TERMINALS
2 TERMINALS
7 CONCOURSES A,B,C,D,E,F,G
192 GATES ( DOMESTIC-152,
INTERNATIONAL-40)
3 TERMINALS
HAVING 6 GATES
ANOTHER 3 TERMINALS PROPOSED
RUNWAYS FIVE THREE
AREA 4700 ACRES 5,106 ACRES
REVENUE US 64.54 BN US 12.42 BN
BUSIEST AIRPORT
RANKING
1 12

17. AIRPORT COMPARISON (CONTINUED)
HARTSFIELD–JACKSON ATLANTA
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
INDIRA GANDHI INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT DELHI (2017-2018)
PASSENGER GROWTH RATE 3.3% 10.2%
BUSIEST DOMESTIC ROUTES ORLANDO, NEWYORK, LOS ANGELES
MUMBAI ,BANAGLORE , KOLKATA,
HYDERABAD
AIRLINE MARKET SHARE DELTA AIRLINES(72.70%) GMR INFRA (64 %)
PRIMARY HUB DELTA AIRLINES INDIGO
GROUND TRANSPORTATION
AND FACILITIES
ROAD , PUBLIC TRANSIT, RENTAL CAR CENTER
METRO,RAIL,BUS,TAXI,CAR
RENTAL
NO OF FLIGHTS DAILY 950,119 1,200
BEST IN
WORLDS MOST BUSIEST AIRPORT BY
PASSENGER TRAFFIC FROM 2000
WORLDS FASTEST GROWING BUSIEST
AIRPORT IN PASSENGER TRAFFIC
DELAYS 16.66% DELAY ,83.44% ON TIME 15% DELAY, 85 % ON TIME

18. OBSERVATIONS (POSITIVE TO INDIA)
 Major positive thing for Indian aviation is it’s growth rate. Indian growth in
almost every aspect of aviation gives hope for a fruitful future.
 By Airport comparison, the delays in America’s top airport is more than that
of India’s top one (16.66% & 15%). Which show the operational capacity of
India.
 The growth rate of Domestic (23.3%) and International (10.43%) depicts
the graph of increment in this sector in India.
 The passenger load factor which is higher in Indian aviation has both
positive and negative impact on us. It means our aircrafts are fully loaded and
also the passengers doesn’t have enough flights.
 Even with the limitations, the operational efficiency of Airlines in India is
comparatively high.
 As GDP is having a positive effect on the Aviation Industry, the growth rate
which is higher than US helps the industry to grow at a faster phase.

19. OBSERVATIONS (NEGATIVE TO INDIA)
 As per the 2018 data, US has a total passenger traffic of 888,574,201 which is nearly 2.72
times of its population. While the Indian domestic and international traffic being
202,186,841 is only 0.15 percent of its population and only 1/4th of that of American.
 India’s topography is a plain one increasing the feasibility of terrestrial transport. And
the average distance between major business cities is three times less than that of US.
 The larger problem for the Indian aviation industry remains that almost all airlines, for
many years now, have been pricing tickets well below the cost of production of a seat.
 With only a few international airports (11), India is almost at its full catering capacity.
 The ratio of airport (126) to passenger in India is really wide while airports are readily
available in US (5194).
 Major airlines operating in India (7) are inadequate to serve this growing industry.
 The ratio between the passenger traffic and revenue generated has a considerable
margin in comparison.
 PPP of India is really low compared to US and this decreases the passenger scope for
flights.
 The average distance between the major airline routes is less making land transport also

20. ROADWAY FOR THE BETTERMENT
 Increase the number of airports (both domestic and International) and identify the
places that can serve as airport hubs in the future to set up new airports.
 Increasing number of flights to the top destinations and adequate flights to required
destinations.
 Regularising the ticket fares and maintaining them well above the cost of production of
seat.
 Increase the number of Runways to decrease delays and taxying time and cost.
 Fleet has to be increased to make the number of flights to a required limit.
 Support and encourage airlines to operate more low cost carriers which are affordable
by the people with moderate means. This will increase the number exponentially.
 Privatization of aviation sector is a great means to develop the sector for luxury travel
but economic travel must be handed back to government and operated with
government aid.
 Adds to be made to create awareness on efficiency of air travel. And help people to
erase the tagline of “Rich People Transport”.

21. REFERENCES
 https://www.statista.com/statistics/564717/airline-industry-passenger-traffic-globally/
 World Bank: www.worldbank.org/en/topic/transport/brief/airtransport
 IATA: http://airlines.iata.org/blog/2011/08/history-the-father-of-indian-aviation
 http://www.nishithdesai.com/fileadmin/user_upload/pdfs/Research%20Papers/The_Indian_Aviation_Sect
or.pdf
 http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_busiest_passenger_air_routes
 https://www.ripublication.com/aasa-spl/aasav4n1spl_12.pdf
 Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Airports Authority of India (AAI)
 https://www.ibef.org/
 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856416305316
 https://www.faa.gov/
 https://www.bts.gov/

22. THANK YOU
SHANMUKHA SRINIVAS B G
R131026, E4,
DEPT. OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
IIIT-RK VALLEY,
RGUKT-AP.
GUIDE: SARAVANAKUMAR J Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering
IIIT-RK VALLEY, RGUKT-
AP.