According DGCA’s official data from scheduled domestic airlines, carriers transported 121.26 lakh passengers during the month, down from 129.47 lakh in August last year. The drop signals a sluggish off-peak monsoon period, pulling cumulative January–August 2026 passenger traffic down to 1,105.30 lakh, a slight 0.18% year-on-year decline compared to 1,107.26 lakh in the corresponding period of 2025.
The seasonal dip impacted Passenger Load Factors (PLF) across key domestic networks. IndiGo maintained its dominant market position with a 65.0% market share (78.87 lakh passengers), although its load factor softened from 82.4% in July to 79.2% in August. The Air India Group captured a 26.7% market share, with its PLF dropping from 83.2% to 77.0%. Akasa Air held 5.5% market share while leading major carriers in occupancy with an 87.6% PLF, down from 91.9% in July. SpiceJet recorded a 1.2% market share and a 79.9% PLF.
Operational performance metrics presented contrasting scenarios for travel trade partners structuring client itineraries. On-Time Performance (OTP) across ten major domestic airports saw IndiGo (91.5%) and Akasa Air (90.5%) lead, followed by Air India Group at 83.9%. Conversely, SpiceJet struggled with an OTP of 17.9% and a cancellation rate of 20.92%. Nationwide flight cancellations averaged 1.04%, with technical issues cited as the cause for 50.2% of grounded flights. Overall passenger complaints stood at 1.76 per 10,000 passengers, primarily driven by baggage issues (29.5%) and flight delays (26.3%). 65% of overall flight delays attributed to reactionary knock-on effects.
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