India’s Domestic Air Traffic Rises 8.5% In April Despite Weather Disruptions

India’s domestic air traffic recorded a robust 8.45% year-on-year growth in April 2025, with passenger numbers crossing 1.43 crore, according to data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday.

The increase came despite widespread weather-related disruptions.

January–April Passenger Traffic Nears 5.75 Crore

Between January and April 2025, domestic airlines carried 575.13 lakh passengers, a 9.87% rise from 523.46 lakh in the same period last year.

The steady growth underscores rising demand for air travel across the country.

Inclement weather played a major role in April’s operational hiccups, causing 38.8% of flight cancellations.

These cancellations impacted 20,840 passengers, prompting airlines to pay ₹41.69 lakh in compensation and facilities, marking a sharp 117% increase from the previous month.

Flight Delays Affect Nearly 1 Lakh Travellers

Delays also surged during the month, with 96,350 passengers facing schedule disruptions—a 68% rise from March.

Notably, 70% of these delays stemmed from ‘reactionary’ reasons, primarily caused by the late arrival of inbound flights.

IndiGo And Air India Gain Market Share

IndiGo solidified its dominance in the domestic market, increasing its share slightly to 64.1% in April from 64% in March.

The airline also improved its passenger load factor to 86.9% from 84.6%.

The Air India Group increased its market share to 27.2% from 26.7%, while its load factor climbed to 83.3% from 80.6%.

Akasa Air maintained its market share at 5% but led the industry in load factor, rising to 93% from 92.5%.

SpiceJet Sees Drop In Market Share; Rise In Load Factor

SpiceJet’s market share dropped from 3.3% in March to 2.6% in April, but the carrier saw an improvement in its load factor, which rose to 86% from 84.8%, according to DGCA data.

Passenger load factor, indicating the percentage of occupied seats, remains a crucial performance measure for airlines.

Higher load factors generally signal better efficiency and profitability.

Scheduled domestic airlines received 910 passenger complaints in April.

This translates to about 0.64 complaints per 10,000 passengers—a metric closely monitored to assess service quality.

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