An Air India passenger plane with over 240 people on board crashed Thursday in India's northwestern city of Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff.  

The aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, was bound for London's Gatwick Airport.

It's one of the worst aviation disasters in the South Asian nation's history. Air India has suffered a number of both fatal and non-fatal crashes over the years. The most recent of its fatal crashes was in 2020, when an Air India Express aircraft left the runway, fell down an embankment and killed 21 people in Karipur, India. Another Air India Express plane overshot the runway in Mangalore, India in 2010 and crashed into a gorge, killing 158 people. According to the Aviation Safety Network, which gathers crash data, the airline also had three non-fatal incidents last year.

The latest tragic accident comes as the airline's owner, the Tata Group, is working to revamp the carrier.

Airline with a rich history

Founded in 1932 as Tata Airlines by Indian business tycoon J. R. D. Tata, Air India was once a national icon.

The Indian government took over and nationalized the airline in 1953.

Years of mismanagement and government interference in business operations turned the then national carrier into an inefficient, money-losing enterprise.

After India opened up the civil aviation sector to private players in the 1990s, Air India struggled further with rising competition, particularly in the low-cost segment, leading to ballooning debts.

Air India returns to the Tatas

The Indian government's initial attempts to privatize Air India yielded no results due to the carrier's heavy debt burden.

New Delhi also wanted to keep a share in the airline.

As it struggled to find a buyer, the government ultimately gave up on retaining a stake and also settled for the buyer covering only a fraction of the airline's debts.

Then, in 2022, India's largest and oldest conglomerate, the Tata Group, bought Air India for roughly $2.4 billion, marking the carrier's return to the Tata fold nearly seven decades after it was nationalized.

How big is Air India?

Prior to acquiring Air India, Tata had been operating two other airlines of its own, the budget carrier AirAsia India with Malaysian airline AirAsia Berhad, and full-service carrier Vistara, in a partnership with Singapore airlines.

Last year, the company consolidated all the different airlines under its ownership into a combined Air India Group, which is currently the second-biggest airline in the South Asian nation in terms of passenger numbers, trailing only IndiGo in that respect.

It commands a roughly 30% share of India's domestic traffic and accounts for 56% of international passengers among the country's airlines.

The group has a fleet of about 300 aircraft, both narrow- and wide-body models from both Airbus and Boeing, and carried a total of 45.8 million domestic air passengers in 2024, according to Business Standard, an Indian daily.

Air India's global network spans 31 countries across five continents, connecting India with destinations in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.

What did the Tatas do to revamp Air India?

After the Tata Group purchased Air India, many hoped it would swiftly revive the airline's fortunes.

The conglomerate has since sought to turn around the ailing carrier by ordering new jets and upgrading its existing fleet.

It placed a major order for new planes — 470 in total — from Airbus and Boeing in February 2023.

Last December, the airline announced it would buy a further 100 jets from Airbus.

And Reuters news agency reported earlier in June that Air India was in talks with Airbus and Boeing for a major new aircraft deal including some 200 extra single-aisle planes.

The company also unveiled a new logo and branding in mid-2023, in addition to plans to modernize its aircraft interiors, among other measures.

In September 2024, Air India kicked off a $400 million (€345 million) refit program to revamp some legacy aircraft in its fleet.

Some operational and internal issues related to the airlines' merger, however, are still being ironed out.

What's the state of India's aviation market?

India's aviation sector has witnessed rapid growth over the past decade amid robust economic expansion and people's rising disposable incomes.

The industry is projected to maintain its growth path in the coming years, with more passengers, aircraft and airports.

At present, India is the world's fourth-largest air market, including both domestic and international travel.

The International Air Transport Association projects that it will become the third biggest over the next decade.

The Indian government is also pumping billions into building new airports, as well as expanding and modernizing existing ones, earmarking around $11 billion for the purpose.

It wants to increase the number of airports to between 350 and 400 by 2047, the centenary of India's independence.

Additionally, India has become the world's largest aircraft purchaser after the US and China, with its fleet size set to grow from 713 to upwards of 2,000 over the next decade.

Edited by: Wesley Rahn