Domestic aviation in India experienced a slowdown in April, with passenger traffic declining by 4.2% to just over 1.38 crore compared to March, according to the latest data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The decline comes amid multiple headwinds, including relatively softer travel demand and rising operational costs.
Year-on-Year and Month-on-Month Comparison
The DGCA figures showed that airlines transported more than 1.38 crore passengers in April, which is 3.47% lower than the over 1.43 crore passengers carried in April last year. In comparison with March, when traffic stood at 1.44 crore passengers, April saw a clear month-on-month dip of 4.2%. The regulator noted in its report that passengers carried by domestic airlines during January to April 2026 were 575.49 lakh, as against 575.13 lakh during the corresponding period of the previous year, registering an annual growth of just 0.06% and a monthly growth of -3.47%.
Challenges Faced by Airlines
Airlines have been navigating a difficult operating environment, with rising costs driven by higher fuel prices and relatively subdued demand weighing on performance. In response, carriers have also temporarily reduced parts of their network to manage capacity and costs.
Market Share Shifts
Market share trends shifted during the month. IndiGo strengthened its position, increasing its share to 65% in April from 63.3% in March. The Air India Group, however, saw a decline, with its share falling to 24.7% from 26.2% in the previous month. Among other carriers, Akasa Air’s share rose slightly to 5.8% from 5.4%, while SpiceJet recorded a drop to 3.4% from 3.8%. Alliance Air’s share also contracted, slipping to 0.3% from 0.6%.
Passenger Complaints and Operational Performance
Passenger experience data indicated that scheduled domestic airlines received 3,266 complaints in April. The complaint rate stood at 2.36 per 10,000 passengers, as per DGCA. Operational performance varied across carriers. IndiGo led on-time performance (OTP) in April at 88.5%, followed by the Air India Group at 82.4%, Akasa Air at 81.4%, Alliance Air at 71.2%, and SpiceJet at 31.2%. OTP is calculated across ten major airports: Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Cochin, Guwahati, and Lucknow.
Flight Delays and Cancellations
During the month, about 1.12% of flights were delayed by more than two hours. The DGCA further noted that over 1.35 lakh passengers were impacted by flight delays, with airlines incurring a little over Rs 2.41 crore in facilitation costs. Separately, 77,065 passengers faced flight cancellations, leading carriers to pay Rs 2.04 crore towards compensation and facilities. In addition, 641 passengers were denied boarding, with airlines disbursing Rs 57.65 lakh for compensation and assistance.
These figures highlight the ongoing challenges in the domestic aviation sector, with airlines striving to balance operational efficiency and passenger satisfaction amidst a tough economic climate.
