For January 2026, domestic air passenger traffic was estimated1 at 154.4 lakh, 5.6% higher than 146.1 lakh in January 2025 and 7.9% higher than 143.1 lakh in December 2025. The airlines’ capacity deployment in January 2026 was 0.2% lower than January 2025 and 5.1% higher compared to December 2025. For 10M FY2026 (April-January 2026), domestic air passenger traffic was 1,391.8 lakh, reflecting a year-over year (YoY) growth of 1.7%. For December 2025, international air passenger traffic for Indian carriers was 32.7 lakh, indicating a YoY growth of 7.2% and a sequential growth of 6.4%. For 9M FY2026 (April-December 2025), international air passenger traffic for Indian carriers stood at 269.0 lakh, a YoY growth of 8.8%.

• Stable outlook on the Indian aviation industry – ICRA’s outlook on the Indian aviation industry is Stable, driven by anticipation of modest growth in domestic air passenger traffic in FY2026 and FY2027. In December 2025, ICRA had revised its forecasts for the domestic air passenger traffic growth in FY2026 to 0-3%, reaching 165-170 million, lower than its previous expectations of 4-6% on a YoY basis.
• ATF prices in February 2026 were lower by around 1.0% on a sequential basis – The yield movement will remain monitorable due to its linkage with aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices and the INR to USD exchange rate, both of which have a significant bearing on airlines’ cost structures. The average ATF prices stood at Rs. 95,181/KL in FY2025, lower by 8.0% on a YoY basis. Further, ATF prices from April 1, 2025, to February 1, 2026, have been lower by 4.2% YoY.