- IndiGo crosses 100 million domestic passengers mark for the first time
- 2025 impacted by external shocks
Domestic traffic in India grew by 3.48% in 2025, shows data released by regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation. The growth was muted due to various challenges faced by the industry starting April, with the Pahalgam terrorist attack, Operation Sindoor, crash of AI 171 and IndiGo’s operational meltdown. The numbers would have been worse had it not been for the exceptional January to March quarter powered by the once in a lifetime Kumbh mela at Prayagraj.
This was the first full year of operations for Air India’s consolidated offering of two airlines, with the regulator reporting the data as a group and not individual airlines. IndiGo crossed the 100 million domestic passengers mark for the first time in a calendar year, despite its December challenges.
The dismal growth in air traffic is a result of severe supply chain challenges which have constrained airlines to expand. IATA estimates air traffic to grow twice as the GDP of the country. India’s GDP has been growing between 6-7% consistently. This would ideally see the air traffic grow between 12% – 14%, which clearly isn’t happening in India.
Market Share
IndiGo closed the year with a 64% market share, higher than previous years 61.9% indicating that the December fiasco was a minor blip in the overall growth of the airline. Compared to previous year, IndiGo gained 2.1% market share with Akasa Air gaining 0.5%. Air India group lost 1.4% market share while SpiceJet lost nearly a percent.
Even as the industry grew by 3.48%, the growth was uneven. It was led by Akasa Air which grew by 15.2%, followed by IndiGo at 7%. Air India group shrunk by 1.8%. SpiceJet continued to shrink, with 2025 being 22.2% smaller than 2024 in terms of passenger numbers while other carriers also shrunk, though the largest of the lot Star Air maintained its lead. In effect, IndiGo added more than a SpiceJet equivalent in 2025. IndiGo carried 69.6 lakh more passengers in 2025 over 2024. SpiceJet carried 46.73 lakh passengers in 2025.
What to look for in 2026?
Flybig suspended operations in 2025 and while it had an impact on the count of operational airports, it had little impact on the passenger numbers. This year will be about fleet renewal for Air India group, especially Air India Express while IndiGo will focus on getting its operations stable and focus on XLR expansion. If external challenges do not create issues, the growth could return to double digit in 2026 driven by growth from April to December.
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