India’s domestic air passenger traffic declined 0.18 per cent year on year during January-August 2026, according to data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Domestic airlines carried 110,530,000 passengers during the period, compared with 110,726,000 in the corresponding period of 2025. Monthly traffic growth declined 6.34 per cent.

The overall cancellation rate of scheduled domestic airlines stood at 1.04 per cent in August. SpiceJet recorded the highest cancellation rate at 20.92 per cent, followed by IndiaOne Air at 10.60 per cent and Alliance Air at 4.58 per cent. Fly91 reported a cancellation rate of 1.35 per cent, while Air India Group recorded 1.14 per cent.

Star Air’s cancellation rate was 0.90 per cent, followed by IndiGo at 0.33 per cent and Akasa Air at 0.07 per cent. Technical issues accounted for the largest share of cancellations at 50.2 per cent, while operational reasons contributed 20.4 per cent. Miscellaneous factors accounted for 17.4 per cent, weather-related disruptions for 8.5 per cent and commercial reasons for 3.5 per cent.

The passenger load factor of most scheduled domestic airlines declined in August compared with July. Akasa Air recorded the highest load factor at 87.6 per cent, down from 94.9 per cent, followed by SpiceJet at 79.9 per cent and IndiGo at 79.2 per cent. Air India Group’s load factor fell to 77 per cent from 83.2 per cent.

Fly91’s load factor increased to 75 per cent from 74.7 per cent, while IndiaOne Air’s rose to 47.5 per cent from 44.5 per cent. Star Air and Alliance Air recorded lower load factors of 73.6 per cent and 58.8 per cent, respectively. In August, 1.39 per cent of flights were delayed by more than two hours, with SpiceJet reporting the highest share at 48.05 per cent. IndiaOne Air reported no such delays.