The full impact of the losses in the aviation sector because of the recent escalation of conflict between India and Pakistan is not yet known. What is clear, however, is that with several airports in the north having to shut operations until middle of May, the best laid plans of Indian carriers were thrown out of gear even if briefly.
But one glance at the recent summer schedule as intended by the carriers for domestic flights in India clubbed with the data on grounded planes gives a comprehensive bird’s eye view of how each of the players is faring; how much growth the sector is recording; who has added capacity; who needs to unground aircraft and to what extent; which airline is surging ahead and which ones are shrinking.
A Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) document offers quite a few insights on the situation, some contrary to popular perception.
One look at the summer schedule for 2025 vis a vis both the winter and last summer shows that there is a growth of only 5.5 % in total flights added and the total number of operational airports has risen by only 5 (from 124 to 129). The increase has brought new found connectivity to seven locations : Ambikapur (Chhattisgarh), Datia and Rewa (Madhya Pradesh), Bidar (Karnataka), Porbandar (Gujarat), Pakyaong (Sikkim) and Solapur (Maharashtra) while Azamgarh (Uttar Pradesh) and Rupsi (Assam) were suspended by the carriers. Growth, therefore, can be called subdued compared to the pre-pandemic years.
Overall growth of the airline sector as per the latest schedules filed with the DGCA is far more muted than one would think. Combined together, the growth in departures per week this summer over the previous winter is a mere 2.4 % and over the previous summer 5.5 %. As of April 2025, a total fleet of 836 aircraft was registered with DGCA, with 121 grounded, an improvement over the previous year.
But coming to the individual players, the variations are quite staggering. It is of no surprise that Air India is leading the pack on growth as it expands in a frenzy. The management thinking appears to be growth at any cost. This is evident in the sheer numbers: The airline has almost doubled its per week departures, with an 89% increase when compared with the schedule of last summer (2024) with Air India Express showing an increase of 38.5%.
At least 17 aircraft of the Air India’s fleet remain grounded, primarily due to redelivery checks and maintenance issues as there are no supply chain constraints for the carrier. Compare this with IndiGo’s staid and relatively muted 8.5% increase, while it continues to grapple with supply chain issues with 53 of its 406 aircraft still grounded.
What comes as more of a surprise from the DGCA data is how much ground Spicejet has lost despite its recent fund infusions and frequent claims of revival. The airline departures per week have shrunk 4% compared to the winter of 2024 and are down by 25% when compared with last summer. While these might be lesser slumps than the previous years, it is contrary to the airline’s claims, which had said that it hopes to induct 10 new aircraft by November 2024 and operate a fleet of 35 aircraft by March end-2025. In fact, 34 of the airline’s 54 aircraft fleet (the Boeing Max, Boeing NG and Q 400s) remain grounded, due to non-availability of serviceable engines to operate, as per DGCA.
The summer schedule filed with DGCA reveals that Spicejet’s troubles seem far from over, with plenty of past baggage still to be sorted including court battles, disputes with vendors and troubles faced by its aircraft supplier, Boeing. The industry consensus is that it remains nothing short of a miracle that the carrier continues to operate.
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In contrast, edging closer to Spicejet and poised to overtake it, is Akasa, the newest player in the sector, which has beaten most others in consistency, adding to its fleet as promised at a steady pace to emerge as a reliable small-sized player in the skies. At 1,089 departures per week in the summer schedule of 2025, the airline is not very far behind SpiceJet which is at 1,240. More recently, the airline – run by a team of airline professionals – is working to secure much needed funding. Although the Indian market conditions, with the duopoly intact, remain tough, there’s no reason why it can’t emerge as a strong and viable third-largest player in the skies.
Among the small players – “here today, gone tomorrow” bandwagon – displaying a resilience previously unseen is Fly91, an airline set up by airline professionals, which has been growing quietly at a steady clip and on which the Indian aviation’s regional dreams are currently pinned.
