SRINAGAR: India’s scheduled domestic carriers carried 16.55 crore passengers in 2024–25, yet the industry reported a combined net loss of Rs 52,897.3 million in the same year, government data placed in the Lok Sabha shows.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation tabled airline-wise financial results and traffic figures showing that passenger traffic grew from 13.60 crore in 2022–23 to 15.37 crore in 2023–24 (13.0 per cent growth) and to 16.55 crore in 2024–25 (7.7 per cent growth). Despite rising traffic, aggregate industry losses narrowed from Rs 186,067.8 million in 2022–23 to Rs 52,897.3 million in 2024–25 — an improvement but still a substantial negative outturn.
The figures show a sharp contrast between carriers. IndiGo reported large profits of Rs 81,674.9 million in 2023–24 and Rs 72,533.0 million in 2024–25, while Air India continued to record losses, though reduced from Rs 113,879.6 million in 2022–23 to Rs 39,757.5 million in 2024–25. Other operators showed mixed results: SpiceJet’s loss narrowed to Rs 556.7 million in 2024–25 from much larger losses earlier, while carriers such as Akasa Air and Alliance Air remained in the red. The ministry noted mergers affecting reporting, including the integration of AIX Connect and Vistara into Air India.
Monthly provisional data up to September 2025 show an early-year moderation: 8.02 crore passengers were carried between April and September 2025. Some months in mid-2025 recorded lower passenger numbers than the same months in 2024 — July fell by 2.9 per cent, August by 1.4 per cent and September by 2.9 per cent year on year — signalling a softening in seasonal demand despite overall annual growth.
On policy and remedies, the ministry told Parliament that with the sector deregulated since the repeal of the Air Corporations Act in 1994, financial and operational decisions including resource mobilisation and debt restructuring remain commercial matters for individual airlines. The government provided the tabulated financial and traffic data but did not lay out a prescriptive rescue plan for loss-making carriers.
