According to the latest passenger traffic data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), SpiceJet's market share has declined significantly to 1.6% in July, marking a substantial drop from 1.9% in June and 2.5% in May. The airline carried 1.87 lakh passengers during the month, representing a small fraction of the total domestic aviation market. This decline comes as the airline continues to face operational challenges in India's competitive aviation sector, with the figure placing SpiceJet well behind the country's largest operators and illustrating the airline's reduced presence in the domestic passenger market. As per DGCA data, domestic passenger traffic fell 4.8% month-on-month to 120 lakh passengers in July from 126.05 lakh in June, though it showed 0.64% year-on-year growth to 984.03 lakh for January-July 2026.
While SpiceJet recorded the highest rate of prolonged delays, IndiGo emerged as the best performer among the five major airlines tracked by the DGCA for on-time performance at 10 major airports. IndiGo's on-time performance stood at 91.2%, followed by Akasa Air at 90.8% and Air India Group at 88.5%. SpiceJet recorded a significantly lower 34.6% on-time performance, with the DGCA calculating a flight as delayed when its departure is more than 15 minutes later than the scheduled departure time. The wide gap between SpiceJet and its peers comes as the airline's domestic market share has continued to shrink, with 28.37% of SpiceJet's flights facing delays over two hours in July, nearly four times the combined rate of rival airlines. The 10 airports covered in the on-time performance assessment were Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Cochin, Guwahati and Lucknow.
Despite SpiceJet's decline, IndiGo maintained its dominant position in India's domestic aviation market with a 67.4% market share, carrying 80.82 lakh passengers in July. The Air India Group secured the second position with a 24% market share, transporting 28.75 lakh passengers during July. Akasa Air held a 5.5% share while SpiceJet accounted for 1.6% of the market. As reported by DGCA data, this performance further strengthened the airline's position as the leading operator in the country's aviation sector, with IndiGo's market share meaning that roughly two out of every three domestic passengers travelled with the airline during the month. The DGCA's analysis of delay reasons found that the majority of delays were attributed to "Reactionary" factors, referring to delays carried forward through an airline's operating schedule.
According to the DGCA data, domestic airlines collectively carried approximately 120 lakh passengers in July, down 4.8% from the previous month and 1.26% of domestic flights were delayed by more than two hours during July. For January-July 2026, passenger traffic stood at 984.03 lakh, compared with 977.79 lakh in the corresponding period last year, marking annual growth of just 0.64%. The overall cancellation rate among scheduled domestic airlines was 0.62% in July, with technical issues accounting for 39.9% of cancellations, followed by operational reasons at 27.4% and weather at 22.7%. This decrease in overall passenger numbers reflects the challenging operating environment facing India's aviation sector during the reporting period, with the July figures showing that India's domestic aviation market experienced a broader reduction in passenger volumes rather than an expanding market.
As reported by DGCA data, SpiceJet's passenger load factor also declined to 84.1% in July from 87.8% in June, while IndiGo's fell to 82.4% from 85.1%. The operational performance gap highlights the significant challenges facing SpiceJet compared to its competitors in the domestic aviation market. The difference in punctuality is particularly important for an airline attempting to rebuild customer confidence, as punctuality affects passenger experience, aircraft utilisation and network efficiency. For SpiceJet, the July data suggest that operational recovery remains a key priority, with the airline needing to increase its passenger volumes meaningfully if it wants to regain a larger share of India's aviation market. The contrast between SpiceJet's 1.6% market share and IndiGo's 67.4% share reflects the vast disparity in network scale and operational capacity between the two airlines.
