Domestic air passenger traffic down 6.3% in August 2026, IndiGo loses market share: DGCA | India News

Domestic air passenger traffic fell 6.34% in August this year compared to the same month in 2025, while IndiGo’s market share declined and Air India Group’s increased, according to the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) report.Scheduled domestic airlines carried 12.13 million passengers in August, down from 12.95 million in the same month last year, the report said.Also Read I Everyday Explained: Why does food taste different on an airplane? Here’s what happens to your taste buds at 35,000 feetPassenger traffic from January to August was 110.53 million, marginally lower than the 110.73 million in the corresponding period last year, registering a year-on-year decline of 0.18%. This is the second consecutive decline in passenger numbers. DGCA’s data showed domestic passenger traffic fell 4.80% to 12 million in July this year from 12.6 million in the same month in 2025.IndiGo’s market share declined to 65% in August from 67.4% in July. Air India Group’s share increased to 26.7% from 24% during the same period. Akasa Air’s market share was 5.5%, the same as in July. SpiceJet’s share declined to 1.2% from 1.6%. Geopolitical turmoil, airline rationalisationThe report said the passenger load factor, or the percentage of an airline’s available seating capacity filled with paying passengers, declined 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%. Akasa Air’s load factor fell from 91.9% to 87.6% during the period. The DGCA report said airlines received 2,132 passenger complaints during the month, the highest being baggage-related issues accounting for 29.5%, followed by flight problems at 26.3% and refund-related complaints at 17.3%. It added that 2,123 of the total 2,132 complaints had been addressed.The report said that among the major carriers, IndiGo recorded the highest timely flight operations at 91.5% across the 10 major airports, followed by Akasa Air (90.5%) and Air India Group (83.9%). Only 17.9% of SpiceJet’s flights operated on time in the months. The On-Time Performance of regional carrier Alliance Air was 71.8%.Also Read I Vietnam Airlines flight makes emergency landing in Chennai after engine failureThe report said 1.39% of flights were delayed by more than two hours in August. SpiceJet recorded the highest share of such delays at 48.05%, followed by Fly91 at 3.46% and Alliance Air at 2.47%.“August is traditionally a softer travel month. With schools and colleges reopened, monsoons impacting leisure travel and families generally waiting for the festive season, demand tends to moderate. Inbound tourism also remains subdued during this period. This year, geopolitical uncertainties, higher operating costs and some rationalisation of airline capacity have added to the softness. I would therefore view the decline in perspective, with festive and VFR travel expected to bring back momentum,” said Jay R. Bhatia, director of Tulsidas Khimji Holidays and member of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI).