Domestic Air Passenger Traffic Climbs 11 Per Cent In Feb, IndiGo Continues To Dominate Market

A report by ICRA revealed that between April 2024 and February 2025, domestic air travel reached approximately 1,551 lakh passengers.

Domestic air travel is expected to expand by 7-10 per cent in both FY2025 and FY2026.

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India’s aviation sector clocked an upward trend as domestic air passenger traffic grew by 11.04 per cent in February 2025, as compared to the same month last year, according to official data.

A report by ICRA revealed that between April 2024 and February 2025, domestic air travel reached approximately 1,551 lakh passengers. This represented a 7.7 per cent increase over the same period a year earlier and a 12.9 per cent rise from the pre-pandemic figure of 1,338 lakh in the first 11 months of the 2019-20 fiscal year (FY20), reported IANS.

The international aviation segment also recorded robust growth. In the first ten months of the current 2024-25 fiscal year (FY25), Indian carriers transported 280.9 lakh international passengers, reflecting a 14.8 per cent year-on-year growth. This number was also 41.3 per cent higher than pre-Covid levels of 198.8 lakh.

According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), scheduled domestic airlines in India carried around 1.40 crore passengers in February 2025, up from 1.26 crore in February 2024. Market leader IndiGo maintained its dominance with a 63.7 per cent share, transporting 89.40 lakh passengers. The Air India Group, including Air India Express, followed with 38.30 lakh passengers, securing a 27.3 per cent market share.

Other airlines also held their respective portions of the market. Akasa Air flew 6.59 lakh passengers, comprising 4.7 per cent of total domestic traffic, while SpiceJet transported 4.54 lakh passengers, capturing a 3.2 per cent share. Among smaller airlines, Alliance Air carried 0.86 lakh passengers, holding 0.6 per cent of the market, while Star Air accounted for 0.4 per cent with 0.60 lakh passengers.

Industry Outlook and Expansion Plans

The ICRA report retained a ‘stable’ outlook for the aviation sector, citing an improved pricing environment and projected moderate passenger growth. Domestic air travel is expected to expand by 7-10 per cent in both FY2025 and FY2026, while international traffic for Indian airlines is projected to grow by 15-20 per cent over the same period.

IndiGo Airlines also gained global recognition as the world’s second-fastest-growing airline in terms of seat capacity, which increased by 10.1 per cent year-on-year to over 134.9 million seats in 2024. Data from the Official Airline Guide (OAG) ranked Qatar Airways in the top position with a 10.4 per cent growth in seat capacity.

Additionally, IndiGo led global rankings in flight frequency growth, with a 9.7 per cent rise year-on-year in 2024, recording 7,49,156 flights for the year. OAG also noted that IndiGo holds one of the largest aircraft orders worldwide, with more than 900 aircraft in its pipeline. The airline received 58 new Airbus aircraft in 2024 but around 80 aircraft remainedinactive due to supply chain-related maintenance delays.