India sees 4.36% rise in domestic air passenger traffic in January: DGCA
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in its latest data has showed that India's domestic air passenger traffic grew 4.36 per cent year-on-year to 152.49 lakh in January 2026 as compared to 146.11 lakh passengers in the year-ago period.
IndiGo has regained its dominant position with a 63.6 per cent market share, carrying 97.04 lakh passengers during the reporting month, after significant December 2025 disruptions caused by new pilot duty (FDTL) norms. In contrast, Air India Group lost nearly 3 per cent market share at 26.5 per cent (40.34-lakh passengers) sequentially in January.
In terms of passenger load factor, Akasa Air recorded the highest seat factor at 93.2 per cent during January 2026, while IndiGo had the second-best at 87.7 per cent during the reporting month. Besides, the overall cancellation rate of scheduled domestic airlines for the month of January 2026 was seen 1.44 per cent while IndiGo delivered the best On-time performance at 70.9 per cent from six key metro airports, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, during the month under review.
