Airlines usually increase their domestic capacity to meet the increased demand during the festive season, but the situation is different this year. Both IndiGo and Air India have reduced their capacity this festive season compared to last year, leading to a big jump in airfare ahead of Diwali. In such a situation, reaching home during the festive season has become very expensive for those who work in some other city far away. Let’s try our best to understand this with the help of statistics…

Airlines have reduced their seats

The country’s largest airline in terms of market share, IndiGo has 13.1 million seats. This is 0.2% less (i.e. 28,600 seats less) than the same period last year. According to data from aviation analytics firm OAG, the airline’s capacity was 11.7 million seats in August 2026, which fell to 11.3 million seats in September 2026. The country’s second largest airline, Air India, has 3.3 million seats in October 2026, down 12.6% from last year, which is down 4080%. Facing heavy financial losses, the airline is restructuring its operations. It kept its capacity at the same level as in August 2026 – which is usually a slow (low demand) time for travel. In September 2026, the capacity was even lower, at 3.2 million seats.

Air travel has become expensive due to this reason

This reduction in capacity is putting further pressure on air fares. SpiceJet has reduced the most – by 38.8% (i.e. 241,000 seats). At the same time, Akasa Air was the only airline that increased its capacity by 35.6%. Airlines are rationalizing their capacity amid high jet fuel prices, geopolitical challenges and the declining value of the rupee against the dollar. Earlier this month, IndiGo revised its fuel surcharge on domestic and international routes due to higher jet fuel prices.

High demand routes

The Mumbai-Delhi route is India’s busiest domestic route, with 681,800 seats available – 7 percent more than last year. The Bengaluru (BLR) Delhi (DEL) route has once again become the second busiest domestic route. There are 475,100 seats available, which is 1 percent less than in October 2025. The fastest increase in capacity was seen on the Kolkata-Delhi (CCUDEL) route, where it grew by 13% to 325,000 seats. According to reports, airfares on some domestic routes have increased by up to 70 percent due to increased travel demand during the festive season.

Amid rising fares, the central government told the Supreme Court that the rules under the ‘Indian Aircraft Act, 2024’ have been finalized and will be published in two weeks. The court directed the Center to produce these published rules before the court in the next hearing to be held on November 16. In July this year, the court had directed the Center to submit the proposed rules in a sealed cover and asked it to rationalize air fares.