Posted Monday, May 15, 2006; 20:00 HKT
If you suspect that India's economic boom is only benefiting the country's rich, then book yourself on a flight on one of India's budget airlines. Pick someplace nice—Goa, for instance—and once you're aboard, take a look at your fellow passengers. There's a high likelihood some of them are flying for the first time in their lives. Chances are many are visiting Goa for the first time as well.

India has seen the launch of a wave of new airlines in recent years. Kingfisher has set impressive service standards, but the biggest social impact has been made by three low-cost carriers: Air Deccan, SpiceJet and GoAir. A ticket on one of these is often cheaper than a good seat on a train—something that has made flying, once the preserve of the rich, an affordable reality, even for lower-middle-class Indians. Their discovery of air travel puts India's aviation sector among the world's fastest growing. The fledgling budget airlines still contend with a few teething problems, of course. Service can be brusque, and there's the usual curse of delayed flights. But these are the other realities of air travel that India's first-time flyers will have to learn to deal with too.

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