Domestic air passenger traffic in India increased sharply in March 2025 as passenger traffic stood at around 148.8 lakh — up 11.3% year-on-year and a 5.9% increase from the 140.4 lakh in February 2025, as per a report published on Thursday.
For the entire fiscal year 2024-25 (April 2024 to March 2025), overall domestic air passenger traffic reached 1,657.1 lakh. This represented a 7.8% increase over the last year and was 17.1% more than the pre-pandemic level of 1,415.6 lakh in FY20, said credit rating agency ICRA.
The agency noted that the Indian aviation sector continues to hold a stable outlook, supported by expectations of steady domestic passenger growth and a relatively stable cost environment heading into FY26.
On the international front, Indian airlines carried 309.5 lakh passengers during the first 11 months of FY25, showing a 14.6% year-on-year increase. This also represented a substantial 41.9% surge over the pre-Covid benchmark of 218.1 lakh.
In March 2025, the airlines boosted seating capacity by 8.5% against the same month last year 2024 and by 10.7% against February 2025. These are consistent with ICRA's expectations of a 7-10% rate of capacity growth on an annual basis during the year.
Passenger load factor (PLF) — a principal gauge of occupancy of seats — stood at 88.2% in March 2025, a rise from 86.0% in March 2024. Across the whole FY25 period, PLF touched 87.0%, which was marginally below the 88.0% seen in FY24.
The report also noted that prices of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) were lower compared to the year-ago period in some months of FY25 — April, June, September, October, January, and March — adding to an average annual ATF price fall of 8%. In addition, April 2025 prices fell by 6.1% from the month before, and were 12.9% lower than April 2024 levels.
"The airlines' attempts to implement fare increases, equivalent to their input cost hike, will be the deciding factor to widen their profit margins," the report concluded.
