The Airlines Buying the Most Commercial Aircraft

Commercial jet orders hit records in 2023, as travel demand soared around the world after three years of pandemic-induced disruptions. Over the last two complete years on record (2023-2024), India's two largest airlines, IndiGo and Air India, have bought by far the most aircraft in the civil aviation industry: 540 and 570 commercial jets, respectively, according to publicly released orders by Airbus and Boeing (compiled by various sources). As our chart shows, this is over three times more than the volume other major actors worldwide ordered: between 150 and 170 aircraft each for Ryanair (Ireland), Southwest Airlines (U.S.), Emirates (UAE) and American Airlines (U.S.). Aside from post-COVID recovery or fleet modernization needs, the growing demand for air travel in India is behind this remarkable surge in aircraft orders by the country's airlines.