India's airlines record 1.9% passenger growth, Air India ranks top on‑time carrier

Air India was placed fourth in Cirium’s June 2026 global on‑time performance ranking, achieving an 86.85 % on‑time arrival rate, an 86.23 % on‑time departure rate and a 99.7 % flight‑completion factor across 15,135 flights.

India’s scheduled domestic airlines carried 729.40 lakh passengers between January and May 2026, a 1.91 % year‑on‑year increase over the same period in 2025. May alone saw 153.90 lakh passengers, up 9.49 % month‑on‑month. According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, IndiGo held a 64.9 % market share in May, followed by the Air India Group at 25.6 % and Akasa Air at 5.8 %.

Load‑factor data for May showed Akasa Air leading with 92.5 %, SpiceJet at 87.4 %, IndiGo at 86.4 % and Air India Group at 83.5 %. The overall cancellation rate remained low at 0.55 %, with technical issues accounting for 45.1 % of cancellations. On‑time performance varied across ten major airports; Chennai recorded the highest punctuality at 92.2 %, while Mumbai was lowest at 70.5 %.

The Ministry reported that 3,080 passenger complaints were lodged in May, roughly two per 10,000 passengers, and 99.8 % of these were resolved. Airlines collectively spent over ₹593 lakh on refunds, rebookings and related passenger assistance.