Market share of airlines fluctuates, but smaller carriers fare better

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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Smaller airlines GoAir and Vistara have managed to either hold on or increase their market share in the domestic market this year. On the other hand, larger carriers, including IndiGo, Air India and SpiceJet, struggled as their share fluctuated.

In the case of the national carrier, the decline has been the sharpest, since April this year.

Earlier this week, industry regulator DGCA released the industry numbers for July.

GoAir, the carrier owned by the Wadia family, has seen its share increasing from 8.7 percent in January to 11.1 percent in July. Interestingly, the airline has managed to hold on to its market share - at 11.1 percent - for three consecutive months since May. It now gives Air India competition for the third spot in the domestic market.

Similarly, Vistara has seen a sharp increase in its share this year. From 3.8 percent in January, the JV between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines saw its share increasing to 6 percent in July. Air Asia, Tata Sons' other JV airline - this time with Malaysia's Air Asia Berhad - saw its share going up to 6.5 percent in July, from 5.3 percent in January.

All these airlines have made the most of the space created by Jet Airways, which suspended its operations in April. Going by the response to its insolvency process, reviving the airline now looks like a tough task.

The competition has in the meantime aggressively expanded its services. GoAir launched new eight flights in July. In the same month, AirAsia India announced new flights from Delhi, to Chennai and Kolkata.

A month earlier, Vistara added 62 new flights to its network. The airline now connects Mumbai with 10 cities.

The bigger peers

The bigger airlines too have improved upon their presence in the domestic aviation industry, among the fastest in the world.

But the increase in their market share may not be as sharp as in the case of their smaller peers.

IndiGo, the country's largest airline, saw its share jumping from 42.5 percent in January, to a high of 49 percent in May. But in the last two months, its share has seen a fall - to 48.1 percent in June, and 47.8 percent in July.

Similarly, SpiceJet, which is now the second largest, saw its share falling marginally in July, to 15.5 percent from 15.6 percent a month earlier. It started the year with a share of 13.3 percent.

But it is Air India that will be most worried with the fall in its market share. From 12.2 percent in January, the airline's share went up to 13.9 percent in April, but plummeted to 12.4 in July.

The airline's fuel supply was also cut this week, with oil companies asking Air India to clear its dues.

The slowing traffic will be a concern for all the airlines though. The growth in passenger traffic was at 3.1 percent in July, less than half of the pace the previous month.

This was reflective in the passenger loads of all the airlines, with most of them seeing their capacity utilisation falling.