Photo of an IndiGo Airbus A320, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
India’s airline seat capacity fell 4.5% year-on-year in September, reaching 22.7 million seats despite the usual festive-season demand bump.
Air India recorded an 8.8% drop, cutting roughly 309,000 seats and taking its total to 3.2 million seats, a 14% share of the market.
SpiceJet’s cuts were the deepest among major carriers, down 45.2% or about 215,000 seats, tied to reported payment difficulties with aircraft lessors.
IndiGo, the market leader with roughly 50% share, reduced capacity by 4.5%, trimming 525,600 seats to reach 11.3 million.
Akasa Air and Emirates were the only carriers to add capacity, growing 5% and 0.3% respectively compared with a year earlier.
Air India Express also trimmed capacity by 2.6%, cutting around 68,000 seats compared with September last year.
SpiceJet posted the steepest cuts of any carrier, reducing capacity by 45.2%, or roughly 215,000 seats, amid reported payment difficulties with aircraft lessors.
Akasa Air and Emirates were the only carriers to add capacity in the period, growing by 5% and 0.3% respectively compared with September 2025.
Domestic capacity overall fell 5.6% year-on-year, while international capacity declined by a smaller 2.1% over the same period.
Low-cost carriers continued to dominate the market, accounting for 69% of total capacity at 15.7 million seats, even as that figure itself declined 4% year-on-year.
The reductions come despite expectations that airlines would ramp up capacity ahead of India’s festive season, a period that typically sees a seasonal spike in air travel demand.
Industry watchers have cited geopolitical tensions in West Asia, elevated fuel prices and softer demand as the combined drivers behind the sector-wide pullback in scheduled seats.
IndiGo remains India’s largest carrier by far, with 11.3 million seats in September, or roughly 50% of the total market, even after a 4.5% year-on-year reduction of 525,600 seats.
Air India’s September capacity stood at 3.2 million seats, a 14% market share, down 8.8% from a year earlier, a reduction of around 309,000 seats.
Photo of an IndiGo Airbus A320, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
