According to the latest data compiled the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, India’s domestic passenger traffic increased by 6.12 percent to 16.13 crore by 2024 from the 15.2 crore the previous year.

In December 2024, the country’s commercial airline carriers carried more than 1,49 crore passengers on its domestic routes. This represents an increase of 8,19% compared to December 2023 when it was only 1,38 crore. IndiGo had a market share of 64.4% in December while Air India was at 26.4%. Akasa Air had a market share of 4.6% and SpiceJet 3.3%, respectively.

IndiGo, according to DGCA data has increased its share of domestic air passenger traffic from 60.5% in 2023 up to 61.9% in 2024. IndiGo flew 9.99 million domestic passengers in a single year. SpiceJet’s share decreased from 5.5% to 3.7% in the same time period. In 2024, the budget carrier will carry 60 lakh passengers within India.

IndiGo was the airline with the highest on-time performance in December, at 73.4%. This was followed by Air India (67.6%), Akasa Air (62.7%), SpiceJet (61.5%) and Alliance Air (55.6%).

In December, the overall cancellation rate for domestic airlines was 1.07 percent. Airlines had to pay INR 1.26 crore in compensation and services for 67,622 flight cancellations. The data showed that 2.8 lakh people were affected by flight delays in December, and airlines had to pay INR 3.78 billion for facilities.

In the last month, airlines have spent INR 1,76 crore on compensation and facilities for 2,147 passengers who were denied boarding.

Airlines are expanding their fleets and networks to meet the growing demand for air travel in the country. It is one of the fastest-growing civil aviation market in the world. Air India Group operates a fleet consisting of approximately 300 commercial aircraft. The Group anticipates that its size will grow to 400 commercial aircraft in the next 3 years.