Indian airlines record 11% surge in domestic passenger traffic in May: DGCA
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in its latest report has said that Indian airlines recorded domestic passenger traffic of 1.53 crore in May 2026, compared with 1.38 crore in April, reflecting growth of over 11 per cent. The figure was also 9.49 per cent higher than in May 2025. Further, the report said that in May, IndiGo's market share dipped to 64.9 per cent, and that of Air India Group climbed to 25.6 per cent. Akasa Air's market share remained unchanged at 5.8 per cent, whereas SpiceJet saw its market share shrink to 2.5 per cent during the month.
The report stated that passengers carried by domestic airlines during January - May 2026 were 729.40 lakh as against 715.70 lakh during the corresponding period of the previous year, thereby registering an annual growth of 1.91 per cent and monthly growth of 9.49 per cent. In terms of On Time Performance (OTP) at the 10 major airports in May, IndiGo topped the list at 82.8 per cent, followed by Akasa Air and Air India Group at 78.3 per cent and 74.5 per cent, respectively. Alliance Air's OTP stood at 70.5 per cent while that of SpiceJet was 26.5 per cent.
Besides, it mentioned the overall cancellation rate of scheduled domestic airlines stood at 0.55 per cent in May. In May, 63,723 passengers were affected by flight cancellations and airlines shelled out Rs 70.32 lakh towards compensation and facilities. Flight delays impacted more than 1.77 lakh passengers, and airlines spent a little over Rs 4.24 crore towards facilitation.
