Air India vs IndiGo vs SpiceJet - What numbers reveal about India’s aviation market in September

IndiGo remains India's largest airline with over 50% market share and 11.3 million seats despite a 4.5% capacity decrease. Air India and Air India Express follow, with notable reductions. Emirates was the only foreign airline to increase capacity, while low-cost carriers hold 69% of the market.

IndiGo continues to remain India’s largest airline by capacity and holds over 50% market share, data from OAG, a leading global travel data provider, has shown. According to OAG, IndiGo's capacity in September is 11.3 million seats, despite a reduction of 4.5% or 525,600 fewer seats.

Tata Group-owned Air India is the second biggest airline in India with 3.2 million seats and holds a 14% market share, the data showed. Air India also saw its capacity shrink by 8.8% (309k fewer seats) in September compared to the same period last year.

Tata Group’s budget offering, Air India Express (IX), also reduced capacity by 2.6% compared to September 2025.

SpiceJet reduced capacity at the fastest rate of 45.2%, 215k fewer seats in September, while Akasa Air is the only Indian carrier to increase capacity (5%).

Interestingly, the UAE’s flag carrier, Emirates, was the only other airline to increase capacity (0.3%) in September compared to the previous year.

Low-cost airlines continued to dominate the Indian market, holding 69% of capacity with 15.7 million seats, a 4% decrease. Full-service capacity is 7 million seats, down 5.4% year on year.

OAG data also showed that Mumbai (BOM) to Delhi (DEL) remains the busiest domestic route in India with 677,300 seats. This is followed by Bengaluru (BLR) to Delhi (DEL) and Bengaluru to Pune.

Among the airports, Delhi was India's busiest, in terms of domestic flights, with 2.7 million seats in September 26. Mumbai and Bengaluru airports are the close second and third-busiest airports, with 1.7 million and 1.5 million seats, respectively.

Delhi was also the busiest state with 3.8 million seats, which account for a 20.7% share of India's total market, followed by Maharashtra, with 3.6 million seats, or 19.7% of the market.

For Indians flying abroad, the United Arab Emirates was the most frequented destination. Despite a 5% reduction in capacity to 1.1 million seats, the country still represented 28% of the total international market in September.

Saudi Arabia is the next busiest international country, with a 9% market share, up 12% to 336k seats.

Capacity reduced by 23% in Thailand to 238k seats, followed by Malaysia and Singapore, where capacity reduced by 13% and 12% respectively.

Capacity continued to increase by 16% to 200k seats to the UK, the sixth-busiest market.

Data also showed that capacity to Italy increased by 194% to 42k seats in September 2026.