India’s airlines cut seat capacity by 4.5% year-on-year in September, bringing the total to 22.7 million seats as the festive season nears.
Air India’s capacity dropped 8.8%, a cut of about 309,000 seats, leaving it with 3.2 million seats and a 14% market share.
SpiceJet posted the deepest cuts among major carriers, down 45.2%, or roughly 215,000 seats, tied to reported issues paying aircraft lessors.
IndiGo, still India’s largest airline, trimmed capacity by 4.5% to 11.3 million seats, holding roughly half the domestic market.
Akasa Air and Emirates were the only carriers to grow capacity, up 5% and 0.3% respectively over last year.
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.
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.
Photo of an IndiGo Airbus A320, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
