India's domestic passenger traffic grows 1 pc in March; 1.4 pc in FY26

New Delhi, April 28 (IANS) India’s domestic air passenger traffic rose 1 per cent YoY in March 2026 to 146.8 lakh and it surged 4.4 per cent on a monthly basis, a report said on Tuesday. 

Domestic air passenger traffic stood at 1,677.4 lakh in FY26, up 1.4 per cent on an annual basis, the report from ICRA said.

In February 2026, international passenger traffic for Indian carriers stood at 28.5 lakh, marking a decline of 0.3 per cent YoY and a sequential fall of 16 per cent.

"Growth in domestic air passenger traffic is estimated to be in the range of 6-8 per cent in FY2027. The growth is subject to downside risks if airfares see a significant spike, leading to lower demand for air travel," the report forecast.

International passenger traffic for Indian carriers stood at 331.5 lakh, registering a YoY growth of 7.7 per cent in the April-February 2026 period.

The airlines’ capacity deployment in March 2026 was 3 per cent lower than the previous year and 10.6 per cent higher month-on-month owing to a smaller number of days in February.

The report estimated that the domestic aviation industry operated at a Passenger Load Factor (PLF) of 89.5 per cent in March 2026 compared to 86 per cent in March 2025 and 89.3 per cent in February 2026.

Passenger Load Factor (PLF) is the percentage of available seating capacity filled by paying passengers.

Due to the impact of the West Asian conflict, the average ATF prices rose 9.2 per cent on a sequential basis and by 18.2 per cent on a YoY basis as of April 10.

While crude oil prices rose sharply (by 45.5 per cent MoM in March 2026) due to the West Asian conflict, the pass‑through to ATF prices was moderate.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation capped domestic ATF price increases at 25 per cent MoM, while the oil marketing companies raised ATF prices by only 9.2 per cent sequentially in April 2026, tempering the immediate cost impact on the aviation sector.

The ratings agency also flagged the continuous decline of the INR against the USD as a concern for the aviation industry. The ministry also announced a reduction in the landing and parking charges for domestic airlines by 25 per cent for three months starting April 2026, which will provide some relief to the domestic carriers, the report said.

--IANS

aar/vd