Airways are the speediest but at the same time costliest mode of transportation. Compared to all other means of transport, airways are capable to reach distant places, remote and dense forests and also to reach those places which are not accessible easily by road. Indian weather is quite favourable for airways. So, air transport of man and material takes place almost throughout the year. The airways have become quite popular due to increased demand of faster delivery of goods and transport of people.

In India, the service of airways was first started for airmail services i.e. transporting important documents, letters, small parcels, etc. between Allahabad and Naini. It was run by a private company. Today, Air India and several other private companies provide air transportation services for transporting both man and goods. The management of all the airports of India is done by the Airport Authority of India (AAI).

It manages 127 airports which include 15 international, 87 domestic and 25 civilian airport terminals. Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, etc. have both domestic and international airports. Pawan Hans Limited provides helicopter services to ONGC and to the government.