India’s Aviation Sector Maintains Stability as Traffic Rises

India’s aviation sector reflects a stable outlook with domestic air passenger traffic recording a double-digit growth of 11.04% in February this year compared to the same month of the previous year, official data showed.  

According to an ICRA report, domestic air traffic for the 11 months of the current financial year was around 1,551 lakh passengers, which is 7.7% higher than the same period of the previous year and 12.9% higher than the pre-Covid level of 1,338 lakh in 11MFY20.

Besides, in the first 10 months of the current financial year (April-Jan), the international passenger traffic for Indian carriers stood at 280.9 lakh, a year-on-year growth of 14.8%, higher than the pre-Covid level of around 198.8 lakh by 41.3%.

The ICRA report states that the outlook for the Indian aviation industry remains stable, driven by expectations of moderate growth in domestic air passenger traffic and a relatively stable cost environment in FY25 and FY26.

According to data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India’s scheduled domestic flight operators ferried around 1.40 crore passengers during February this year, up from 1.26 crore in the same month of the previous year.

DGCA’s monthly passenger traffic report shows that IndiGo continues to be the country’s largest airline with a 63.7 per cent market share. The low-cost carrier flew 89.40 lakh passengers in February 2025.

IndiGo was followed by Air India Group, including Air India Express, which carried 38.30 lakh passengers, which gives the Tata Group airline a 27.3% market share.

Newly launched airline Akasa Air carried 6.59 lakh to get a 4.7% share of the market pie while Ajay Singh-led budget airline SpiceJet flew 4.54 lakh passengers which gives it a market share of 3.2%. 

Among the smaller airlines Alliance Air carried 0.86 lakh passengers in February to get a market share of 0.6%, followed by Star Air, which flew0.60 lakh passengers, accounting for a 0.4% market share. 

Meanwhile. ICRA maintains a ‘stable’ outlook for the aviation industry, citing improved pricing power and moderate traffic growth projections. Domestic air traffic is expected to grow at 7-10% in FY2025 and FY2026, while international passenger traffic for Indian carriers is anticipated to expand by 15–20%. 

Interestingly, IndiGo Airlines has emerged as the world’s second fastest-growing airline in terms of seat capacity, which increased by 10.1% year-on-year to over 134.9 million seats in 2024. India’s largest airline has been ranked next only to Qatar Airways, which clocked a 10.4% growth in seat capacity over the previous year, according to the latest data from the Official Airline Guide (OAG).

IndiGo has also been ranked as the fastest-growing airline in the world in terms of flight frequency growth at 9.7% year-on-year in 2024. The airline recorded a flight frequency of 7,49,156 for the year, the figures show.

OAG has also recorded that IndiGo holds one of the world’s largest aircraft orders, with over 900 aircraft on order and was the largest recipient of 58 new Airbus aircraft in 2024. However, it also states that the airline does have a large proportion (approx. 80 aircraft) inactive with MRO-related supply chain issues.

—IANS