India Domestic Air Traffic Grows 1.91% Through May 2026

The Ministry of Civil Aviation reported that India's scheduled domestic airlines carried 729.40 lakh passengers between January and May 2026. This figure represents a 1.91% year-on-year growth over the 715.70 lakh passengers transported during the same period in 2025. Growth accelerated in May, with carriers transporting 153.90 lakh passengers, marking a 9.49% increase from the previous month.

Market share in May was led by IndiGo at 64.9%, followed by Air India Group at 25.6% and Akasa Air at 5.8%. Akasa Air achieved the highest passenger load factor at 92.5% and the lowest cancellation rate of 0.14%. In contrast, SpiceJet struggled with on-time performance, recording only 26.5% punctuality and a 15.75% rate for flights delayed by more than two hours.

Operational efficiency varied by location, with Chennai reporting the highest punctuality at 92.2% and Mumbai the lowest at 70.5%. Technical issues caused 45.1% of all flight cancellations, though the overall cancellation rate remained low at 0.55%. Airlines redressed 99.8% of the 3,080 passenger complaints received in May, spending over Rs 593 lakh on refunds, rebookings, and accommodations. Alliance Air reported a complaint rate of 74.9 per 10,000 passengers.