India's domestic airlines carried 1.21 crore passengers in August 2026, representing a 6.34% decline compared to the same period last year, according to data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The total passenger volume for January-August 2026 stood at 1,105.30 lakh compared to 1,107.26 lakh in the corresponding period of the previous year, registering an annual growth of -0.18% and monthly growth of -6.34%. The overall cancellation rate of scheduled domestic airlines stood at 1.39% in August 2026, showing improved operational reliability compared to previous months.
IndiGo retained its dominant position with a 65% market share, though this represents a 2.4% sequential decline from 67.4% in July 2026. The Air India Group maintained its second position with a 26.7% market share, gaining 2.7% over July 2026 from 24% in the previous month. SpiceJet, which is facing a crisis, also saw its market share fall to 1.2% from 1.6% in July 2026. Akasa Air held a 5.5% market share after carrying 6.68 lakh passengers, while Alliance Air reported an OTP of 71.8%, and SpiceJet recorded the lowest performance at 17.9%.
IndiGo led on-time performance among scheduled domestic airlines at the 10 major airports in August 2026, recording the highest On Time Performance (OTP) at 91.5%. Akasa Air followed with an OTP of 90.5%, while Air India Group recorded 83.9%. The DGCA data shows that IndiGo maintained its operational excellence despite the market share decline, demonstrating the airline's ability to deliver punctual services to passengers.
Among airlines, SpiceJet recorded the highest cancellation rate at 20.92%, followed by IndiaOne Air at 10.60% and Alliance Air at 4.58%. Fly91 reported a cancellation rate of 1.35%, Air India Group 1.14%, Star Air 0.90%, IndiGo 0.33%, and Akasa Air 0.07%. Within cancellations, technical issues accounted for the largest share at 50.2%, followed by operational reasons at 20.4% and miscellaneous factors at 17.4%. Weather-related disruptions contributed 8.5% of cancellations, while commercial reasons accounted for the remaining 3.5%.
