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NEW DELHI: Chennai saw the highest percentage – 92.2% – domestic flights of IndiGo, Air India Group, Akasa, Alliance Air and SpiceJet operating on time this May, among the top 10 busiest busy Indian airpots followed by Kolkata (84.7%), Hyderabad (84.4%), Bengaluru (82.3%) and Kochi (81.5%%). The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Tuesday released domestic air travel data for May which showed Ahmedabad and Lucknow (both at 76.7%), Guwahati (75.3%), Delhi (72.6%) and Mumbai (70.5%) at spots six to 10. This means that two of the India’s airports were at the bottom of the on time performance charts (OTP) for domestic flights.Among airlines, IndiGo (82.8%), Akasa (78.3%) and Air India Group (74.5%) topped the OTP charts for domestic flights at the 10 major airports (listed above). SpiceJet was at the bottom of this list with 26.5%, or slightly more than a quarter of its flights, operating on time.Domestic air travel picked up strongly this summer break month of May which saw over 1.5 crore people fly within the country, almost 10% more than 1.4 crore same month last year. This April had seen less than 1.4 crore domestic flyers, and the summer break month jump was significant.With outbound travel still under the cloud of airspace closures, high airfares and weak rupee, domestic air travel was string that benefitted Indian hospitality companies too. Overall, growth has been tepid. Jan-May 2026 has seen 7.3 crore domestic flyers, about 2% more than same period last year’s 7.1 crore. IndiGo domestic market in May was 64.9%, followed by Air India Group at 25.6%, Akasa at 5.8% and other smaller players accounting for the remaining 3.7%.
