IndiGo tops Air India in international passenger traffic in Jul-Sep quarter

IndiGo emerged as India's largest international carrier in July-September 2025, overtaking the Air India group in passenger traffic amid capacity cuts and aircraft constraints at Tata-owned airlines

IndiGo topped Air India in international passenger traffic during the July–September 2025 quarter, carrying 4.14 million passengers, marginally ahead of the Air India Group’s combined 4.10 million, according to data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

 

Air India flew 2.38 million international passengers during the period, while Air India Express accounted for 1.72 million, placing IndiGo ahead of each Tata Group airline individually as well as the group collectively.

 

This is the first time in the last six years that IndiGo has surpassed Air India, according to The Times of India. 

 

Notably, Air India's share was reduced after one of its Boeing 787 aircraft crashed near Ahmedabad airport shortly after take-off, claiming 260 lives. Soon after the crash, the airline announced a 15 per cent reduction in its international widebody operations. The airline has also been operating below potential capacity as many older aircraft are regularly pulled out of service for cabin upgrades, while deliveries of new planes from both Boeing and Airbus have been delayed due to supply-chain challenges.

 

Other Indian carriers trailed far behind the top three, with SpiceJet carrying 0.31 million international passengers during the quarter and Akasa Air flying just 0.21 million. 

Will IndiGo's jump sustain?

According to recent data by gl­obal aviation analytics company Cirium, IndiGo has also overtaken the Air India group in the number of scheduled flights as well as seats during this winter schedule (October-March).

 

IndiGo has increased its international winter schedule by 14.5 per cent to 44,035 flights between October 26 and March 27 next year, compared with 38,481 flights in the previous winter schedule from October 27 last year to March 26.

 

In contrast, the Air India group, which includes Air India and Air India Express, has cut its winter schedule by over 9 per cent, with flights reduced from 45,958 last winter to 41,626 this season.

 

However, the number of flights and seats cleared by the Ministry of Civil Aviation may be revised. Moreover, IndiGo has also been directed by the ministry to cut its schedule by 10 per cent to help stabilise its operations.

 

This comes at a time when the budget carrier is grappling with multiple investigations and flight reductions due to the massive disruptions caused during the first ten days of December. Between December 1 and December 9, the budget carrier cancelled over 4,200 flights as it struggled to manage its pilot duty roster under the new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) rules.

 

Notably, during this chaos period, the airline only cancelled 2.4 per cent of its 2,702 international flights, as against 25 per cent of its total 17,404 domestic flights, reported the Times of India.