Passenger traffic increased from around 1.38 crore passengers in April 2026 to 1.54 crore passengers in May 2026

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India’s domestic air passenger traffic increased in May 2026, supported by stronger seasonal travel demand even as airlines continued calibrated capacity deployment.According to data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), scheduled domestic airlines carried around 1.54 crore passengers during May 2026, compared with around 1.40 crore passengers during the corresponding period of last year, registering a year-on-year growth of about 10 per cent.On a sequential basis, passenger traffic increased from around 1.38 crore passengers in April 2026 to 1.54 crore passengers in May 2026, reflecting a month-on-month growth of about 11.6 per cent.Travel DemandSpeaking to businessline, industry observers said stronger summer travel demand contributed to the increase in passenger traffic even as airlines maintained a cautious approach towards capacity deployment amid elevated operating costs.Besides, the data showed that passenger load factor improved across most airlines during May compared with April, indicating stronger seat utilisation.Akasa Air recorded the highest passenger load factor during May 2026 at 92.5 per cent, followed by SpiceJet (87.4 per cent), IndiGo (86.4 per cent) and the Air India Group (83.5 per cent).Top AirlinesIn terms of market share, IndiGo retained its dominant position among domestic carriers after carrying 99.91 lakh passengers, accounting for 64.9 per cent of the market.Similarly, the Air India Group—comprising Air India and Air India Express—accounted for a combined market share of 25.6 per cent after carrying 39.33 lakh passengers.Meanwhile, Akasa Air increased its market share to 5.8 per cent after carrying 8.90 lakh passengers.SpiceJet accounted for a market share of 2.5 per cent, while Fly91, Star Air and Alliance Air accounted for 0.4 per cent, 0.5 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively.Additionally, the overall cancellation rate of scheduled domestic airlines during May 2026 stood at 0.55 per cent, with technical reasons accounting for the largest share of cancellations at 45.1 per cent, followed by operational reasons (26.6 per cent) and weather-related disruptions (15.3 per cent).Published on July 7, 2026