Domestic airlines carried 153.90 lakh passengers in May 2026, up 9.49% compared to the total passengers in April, according to traffic data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Cumulative passenger numbers for January-May 2026 stood at 729.40 lakh, up 1.91% from 715.70 lakh in the same period last year.
Which airline had the highest passenger load factor in May 2026?
Passenger load factors rose for every scheduled carrier between April and May. Akasa Air recorded the highest occupancy at 92.5%, followed by IndiGo at 86.4% and SpiceJet at 87.4%. Air India Group’s load factor climbed to 83.5% from 78.5% a month earlier, while Star Air rose to 76.1%. Alliance Air and IndiaOne Air, the smaller regional operators, posted the lowest load factors at 61.2% and 53.5%, respectively.
Which airline had the largest domestic market share in May 2026?
IndiGo remained the largest domestic carrier by market share in May at 64.9%, broadly steady compared to April’s 65.0%. Air India Group’s share rose to 25.6% from 24.7%, while Akasa Air held its share at 5.8%. SpiceJet‘s share fell to 2.5% from 3.4% the previous month. Alliance Air, Fly91, IndiaOne Air and Star Air together accounted for a little over 1% of the market.
How many domestic flights were cancelled in May, and which airlines had the highest cancellation rates?
The overall cancellation rate among scheduled domestic airlines was 0.55% in May. IndiaOne Air recorded the highest cancellation rate at 5.58%, followed by Alliance Air at 4.29% and SpiceJet at 4.04%. Akasa Air had the lowest rate at 0.14%, followed by IndiGo at 0.36%.
According to the DGCA, 63,723 passengers were affected by cancellations during the month, and airlines spent Rs 70.32 lakh on compensation and facilities as a result.
Which airline was the most punctual in May 2026?
Among carriers compliant with the Route Dispersal Guidelines and operating at the ten major airports tracked by the regulator, which include Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Guwahati and Lucknow, IndiGo posted the best on-time performance at 82.8%. Akasa Air followed at 78.3%, Air India Group at 74.5%, and Alliance Air at 70.5%. SpiceJet’s on-time performance was the lowest among the five carriers assessed, at 26.5%. Chennai recorded the highest on-time performance among the ten airports at 92.2%, while Mumbai recorded the lowest at 70.5%.
Separately, around 1.56% of flights across all carriers were delayed by more than two hours during the month. SpiceJet had the highest share of such delays at 15.75%, followed by Fly91 at 5.85%, while IndiaOne Air reported none.
The data from DGCA also noted that IndiGo accounted for the largest share of delay-related facilitation spending among individual carriers, at Rs 202 lakh, followed by Air India Group at Rs 110.71 lakh