New Delhi, Oct 24 (IANS) The government on Friday said the winter schedule for domestic airlines has been finalised, and New Amravati, Hissar, Purnia and Rupsi airports have been added in the schedule.

According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, after the slot conference meeting held in September, the final slots clearances have been received from respective airport operators, which shows 5.95 per cent departures per week growth proposed compared to Winter Schedule 2024.

“Winter Schedule 2025 (WS25) (effective from October 26, 2025 till March 28, 2026) of the scheduled domestic airlines has been finalised,” the ministry said.

It has been observed that there are 26,495 departures per week which have been finalised to/from 126 airports as per WS25, compared to 25,610 departures per week from 129 airports in Summer Schedule 2025 (SS25).

While IndiGo leads with 15,014 departures per week, Air India is second with 4,277 flights, followed by AI Express at 3,171 flights.

“Out of these 126 airports, Amravati, Hissar, Purnia and Rupsi are the new airports proposed by the scheduled airlines in the WS25 whereas operations from Aligarh, Moradabad, Chitrakoot, Bhavnagar, Ludhiana, Pakyong and Shravasti airports were suspended in the WS25,” the Civil Aviation Ministry added.

India’s civil aviation sector has emerged as one of the fastest-growing sectors, making the country the third-largest domestic aviation market in the world. The number of airports in the country has increased from 74 in 2014 to 163 in 2025.

As India moves toward its centenary year of independence, the government is charting an ambitious growth path for the aviation sector, which targets expanding the number of airports in the country from 163 in 2025 to over 350 by 2047, and passenger traffic is expected to cross one billion.

With 25 million jobs projected by 2047 and expanding opportunities in MRO, drone manufacturing, and pilot training, aviation will become a vital pillar of India’s $10 trillion economy.

–IANS

na/