Domestic air passenger traffic in India fell 6.34% year-on-year in August, with scheduled domestic airlines carrying 12.13 million passengers compared with 12.95 million in August 2025, according to data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The decline also came with a shift in airline market shares. IndiGo’s share fell to 65% in August from 67.4% in July, while Air India Group’s share rose to 26.7% from 24% during the same period.
Domestic Air Traffic Declines for Second Consecutive Month
The latest figures show that passenger traffic has declined for the second consecutive month.
From January to August, scheduled domestic airlines carried 110.53 million passengers, marginally lower than the 110.73 million recorded during the corresponding period last year. This represents a year-on-year decline of 0.18%.
Domestic passenger traffic had also fallen 4.80% in July, when airlines carried around 12 million passengers compared with 12.6 million in July 2025.
IndiGo Loses Market Share
IndiGo continued to hold the largest share of India’s domestic aviation market, but its share declined during August.
The airline’s market share fell from 67.4% in July to 65% in August.
Air India Group, meanwhile, increased its market share from 24% to 26.7%.
Akasa Air retained a 5.5% market share, unchanged from July, while SpiceJet’s share declined from 1.6% to 1.2%.
| Airline | Market Share in August | Market Share in July |
|---|---|---|
| IndiGo | 65% | 67.4% |
| Air India Group | 26.7% | 24% |
| Akasa Air | 5.5% | 5.5% |
| SpiceJet | 1.2% | 1.6% |
Passenger Load Factors Also Fall
The DGCA data showed a decline in passenger load factors among major carriers in August compared with July.
IndiGo’s load factor fell from 82.4% in July to 79.2% in August.
Air India Group’s load factor declined from 83.2% to 77%, while Akasa Air’s fell from 91.9% to 87.6%.
The load factor indicates the percentage of an airline’s available seating capacity occupied by paying passengers.
IndiGo Leads On-Time Performance
Despite the decline in market share and load factor, IndiGo recorded the highest on-time performance among the 10 major airlines at the 10 major airports covered by the DGCA.
IndiGo recorded an on-time performance of 91.5%, followed by Akasa Air at 90.5%.
Air India Group recorded 83.9%, while Alliance Air’s on-time performance stood at 71.8%.
SpiceJet recorded the lowest on-time performance among the major carriers at 17.9%.
Passenger Complaints Rise
Airlines received 2,132 passenger complaints during August, according to the DGCA report.
Baggage-related complaints accounted for the largest share at 29.5%, followed by complaints related to flight problems at 26.3% and refund issues at 17.3%.
The regulator said 2,123 of the 2,132 complaints had been addressed.
SpiceJet Records Highest Share of Long Delays
The DGCA said 1.39% of flights were delayed by more than two hours during August.
SpiceJet recorded the highest proportion of such delays at 48.05%. It was followed by Fly91 at 3.46% and Alliance Air at 2.47%.
The latest data highlights a mixed picture for India’s domestic aviation sector, with overall passenger traffic declining while market shares and operational performance varied significantly among airlines.
