India’s Domestic Air Traffic Rises 1.44% in H1 2026, IndiGo Maintains Dominance

Domestic airlines in India carried 864.04 lakh passengers during the January-June 2026 period, registering an annual growth of 1.44 per cent compared with 851.74 lakh passengers carried during the corresponding period last year, according to data released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The ministry's traffic report showed that passenger traffic during the first six months of 2026 continued to grow on a year-on-year basis, although passenger numbers declined on a monthly basis.

Domestic airlines carried 134.64 lakh passengers in June 2026, compared with 136.04 lakh passengers in the previous month, reflecting a monthly decline of 1.03 per cent.

The report also provided passenger load factors for scheduled domestic airlines in June 2026.

Akasa Air recorded the highest passenger load factor at 92.2 per cent, followed by SpiceJet at 87.8 per cent, Air India Group at 85.5 per cent, IndiGo at 85.1 per cent, Star Air at 75.0 per cent, Fly91 at 73.2 per cent, Alliance Air at 61.7 per cent, and Indiaone Air at 59.3 per cent. The Air India Group includes Air India and Air India Express.

According to the data, IndiGo continued to dominate the domestic aviation market during the January-June period with a 64.3 per cent market share, carrying 555.83 lakh passengers. Air India Group held the second-largest share at 25.7 per cent, transporting 221.67 lakh passengers.

Among other airlines, Akasa Air carried 47.42 lakh passengers with a 5.5 per cent market share, while SpiceJet transported 28.10 lakh passengers, accounting for 3.3 per cent of the market.

Star Air carried 5.03 lakh passengers with a 0.6 per cent share, followed by Alliance Air with 3.47 lakh passengers and a 0.4 per cent market share. Fly91 carried 2.41 lakh passengers, accounting for 0.3 per cent, while Indiaone Air carried 0.10 lakh passengers during the period.

(With inputs from ANI)