Indian Airlines has carried a total 2.11 lakh passengers in December 2006, a growth of 20 percent over December 2005. 

"Almost 45 percent of Indian Airlines capacity is deployed on the international network. In December and January, Indian Airlines supplemented its international capacity by operating flights to carry Haj pilgrims from India to Jeddah and also carried pilgrims to various upliftment points in India," an Indian Airlines press release said.

Commenting on the Air Deccan overtaking Indian Airlines for the number two slot, an Indian Airlines executive claimed that it was still maintaining the lead over Air Deccan.

"Indian Airlines boasts 21 percent market share considering the revenue per kilo metres while Air Deccan is at 19 percent. If we include international passengers into that, it will touch 27 percent," an Indian Airlines executive said.

The market share is always calculated on the basis of capacity induction. Unfortunately, Indian Airlines has to withdraw some domestic capacity to redeploy on the international routes, the executive added.

Referring to the total passengers carried, he added that the increase in traffic is the result of concerted action to improve on-time performance, the quality of product and services on board, and the many marketing initiatives that have been launched by the airline in the recent past.