The Ministry of Civil Aviation released data on Tuesday showing 118.23 lakh passengers used domestic scheduled flights in September, down 6.49% from August’s 126.43 lakh.
Year‑to‑date, 1,223.53 lakh travellers flew domestically, a 0.82% dip from the 1,233.70 lakh recorded in the same period last year.
IndiGo flew 77.30 lakh passengers, capturing 65.4% of the market, while the Air India Group carried 31.65 lakh, holding 26.8%.
Overall flight cancellations rose 1.15% in September, with SpiceJet’s 20.29% rate the highest; technical glitches accounted for 37.8% of cancellations, followed by operational reasons at 31.2%.
More than 1.19% of all flights were delayed beyond two hours, a 39.36% share by SpiceJet, while IndiGo’s long‑delay rate stood at 0.50%. The Ministry noted that re‑routing and late arrivals of aircraft contributed to 65% of these delays.
Airlines logged 2,466 complaints, 18 pending; Air India Group led with 987, but Alliance Air had the highest complaint rate at 75.1 per 10,000 passengers. The majority of grievances concerned flight‑related issues, baggage handling, and refunds.
Ministry plans to convene a meeting of airlines and regulators on 15 October to address safety, punctuality, and passenger‑service standards.