New record of flights in January 2026: More than 1.52 crore passengers traveled by air, Indigo captured back 63.6% market share.

New Delhi: The number of air passengers increased by 4.36 percent in January and reached a new record level. According to the data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the number of passengers traveling in flights of domestic airlines in January this year was 1 crore 52 lakh 49 thousand. This is 4.36 percent more than 1 crore 46 lakh 11 thousand in January 2025 and is a new record in itself. Earlier, the number of air passengers in November 2025 was 1 crore 52 lakh 38 thousand.

However, due to major disruption in IndiGo’s operations in December, this figure had come down to 1.43 crore. The special thing was that after a big decline in December 2025, Indigo regained its old market share in terms of number of passengers in January. Its market share dropped from 63.6 percent in November to 59.6 percent after thousands of flights were canceled during the first week of December last year. It has once again reached 63.6 percent in January. This means that passengers have once again gone back to IndiGo.

On the other hand, Air India Group’s market share declined to 26.5 percent in January after temporarily increasing (29.6 percent) in December. Akasa Air (4.8 percent) and SpiceJet (3.9 percent) stood third and fourth respectively. The combined market share of IndiGo and Air India has consistently remained above 90 percent. Akasa Air once again wins in terms of flying with maximum number of seats. In January, it was the only airline whose occupied seats ratio (PLF) was more than 90 percent. Akasa’s PLF was 93.2 percent.

IndiGo stood second with 87.7 percent and Air India Group stood third with 86.5 percent. SpiceJet’s PLF was 85.9 percent and regional airline company Fly91’s was 80.3 percent. Airlines received a total of 9,158 complaints from passengers in January, of which 9,155 have been resolved. Of the complaints, 57.3 percent were related to baggage while 21.7 percent were related to problems with flights. 10.2 percent complaints were also received regarding refund.