India's domestic air passenger traffic declined 4.8 per cent year-on-year in July, with airlines carrying 1.20 crore passengers compared with 1.26 crore in the same month last year, according to data released by aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday.
Despite the July contraction, passenger traffic for the first seven months of 2026 remained marginally above last year's level. Domestic airlines carried 984.03 lakh passengers between January and July, against 977.79 lakh during the corresponding period of 2025, representing growth of 0.64 per cent.
Major airlines see passenger decline
Market leader IndiGo carried 80.82 lakh passengers in July, down from 89.20 lakh in June. The Air India group, owned by Tata Sons, transported 28.75 lakh passengers during the month compared with 32.22 lakh in June.
Akasa Air's passenger count declined to 6.65 lakh from 8.61 lakh in the previous month, while SpiceJet carried 1.87 lakh passengers, compared with 2.63 lakh in June.
The fall in passenger numbers was accompanied by a decline in passenger load factors across all major domestic airlines. Load factor measures the proportion of available airline seats occupied by passengers and is an important indicator of capacity utilisation.
The July numbers indicate a broad sequential slowdown across the domestic aviation market rather than a decline concentrated among individual carriers.
IndiGo strengthens market dominance
Despite carrying fewer passengers than in June, IndiGo increased its share of the domestic market to 67.4 per cent in July from 66.3 per cent a month earlier, further consolidating its position as India's largest airline.
The Air India group's market share edged up to 24 per cent from 23.9 per cent.
Together, IndiGo and the Air India group accounted for more than 91 per cent of domestic passenger traffic during the month, highlighting the increasing concentration of India's aviation market around its two largest airline groups.
Smaller carriers lost ground. Akasa Air's market share dropped to 5.5 per cent from 6.4 per cent in June, while SpiceJet's share declined from 1.9 per cent to 1.6 per cent.
IndiGo leads on punctuality
IndiGo also topped the DGCA's on-time performance rankings in July, with 91.2 per cent of its flights operating on schedule. Akasa Air followed closely with an on-time performance of 90.8 per cent.
The regulator measured punctuality across 10 major domestic airports — Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Guwahati and Lucknow.
The latest figures point to a subdued July for India's aviation sector after years of strong post-pandemic passenger growth. While cumulative traffic for 2026 remains marginally positive, the year-on-year decline in July and lower load factors across major airlines will put the focus on whether demand strengthens during the upcoming festival and holiday travel season.