Over the past decade, India’s skies have grown busier than ever. The nation has emerged because the world’s third-largest home aviation market, pushed by fast financial development, rising middle-class journey and increasing regional connectivity. Nevertheless, whereas the variety of airports has surged, the variety of airways has shrunk, making IndiGo just about synonymous with air journey in India.
In line with authorities information, the variety of operational airports elevated from 74 in 2014 to 163 in 2025. The federal government has set an formidable goal of increasing this community to 350–400 airports by 2047. Aviation has additionally turn into one of many fastest-growing sectors of the financial system, contributing not solely by means of air transport providers but additionally by boosting tourism, commerce, logistics and manufacturing.
But, the construction of the market has turn into more and more concentrated. As per the Directorate Normal of Civil Aviation (DGCA), IndiGo presently instructions a dominant 65% share of the home market. The Air India Group — comprising Air India and Air India Specific — holds 26%, whereas Akasa Air has 5%, sustaining its place because the third-largest home service. SpiceJet accounts for simply 2%, with all different airways collectively making up the remaining 2%.
A number of nationwide and regional carriers have struggled to outlive in what is usually described because the world’s fastest-growing aviation market. The collapse of Jet Airways earlier and Go First in Might 2023 additional accelerated consolidation, permitting IndiGo to considerably increase its footprint.
This dominance, nonetheless, has come below scrutiny following latest mass cancellations of IndiGo flights that brought about widespread disruption to air site visitors throughout the nation. Regulators noticed that the airline had didn’t adequately handle its operational sources, together with plane availability and pilot crew planning.
In response, authorities determined that IndiGo’s authorized winter schedule needs to be reviewed and curtailed by at the least 10%. The present show-cause discover to the airline is ready to be modified, with a contemporary discover prone to be issued. The scenario will stay below periodic evaluate for any additional motion deemed mandatory.
The difficulty was additionally raised within the Rajya Sabha on December 8, the place Civil Aviation Minister Ok. Ram Mohan Naidu mentioned the federal government would take “very, very strict motion” in opposition to IndiGo to “set an instance” for the business. Talking throughout Query Hour, the Minister mentioned the disruption stemmed from IndiGo’s inside lapses, notably its failure to handle crew availability and responsibility rosters.
“We aren’t taking this case simply. We’re doing an inquiry. We are going to take very, very strict motion not just for this case but additionally for instance,” he mentioned.
Mr. Naidu additionally outlined the implementation of revised Flight Responsibility Time Limitation (FDTL) norms, launched following a Excessive Court docket order in April 2025. Of the 22 pointers, 15 had been carried out from July 1 and the remaining seven from November 1. He burdened that the foundations had been framed after in depth consultations with all stakeholders, together with IndiGo, and have to be adopted “with none compromise on security”. The up to date FDTL norms characterize a big tightening of crew scheduling laws. Pilots are actually mandated 48 hours of weekly relaxation, in comparison with the earlier rule of 36 hours, and evening landings have been restricted to 2 from six beforehand.
Chairman of the IndiGo airline board chairman Vikram Singh Mehta, in his message to air passengers, rejected the allegations that the disaster was engineered and that the airline tried to affect the federal government over the revised Flight Responsibility Time Limitation (FDTL) guidelines.
flight security
Whereas airways argue these measures disrupt roster planning and plane utilization, particularly at hubs with heavy evening operations, pilot unions preserve that the caps are important to cut back cumulative fatigue and improve flight security.
Monetary information highlights the stark distinction inside the sector. In a written reply, the Ministry of Civil Aviation mentioned IndiGo was the one main airline to put up a revenue in FY 2024–25, incomes ₹7,253 crore. Air India reported a lack of ₹3,976 crore, Air India Specific ₹5,832 crore, Akasa Air ₹1,986 crore and Alliance Air ₹691 crore. SpiceJet additionally remained within the purple with a ₹56-crore loss, whereas regional service Star Air was a uncommon exception, posting a modest revenue of ₹68 crore. Air India is presently present process a large transformation after being taken over by the Tata Group in 2022, whereas Go First stays grounded after suspending operations in 2023 as a consequence of extreme monetary stress.
In the meantime, IndiGo continues to plan aggressively for the longer term. The airline has positioned a agency order for 500 Airbus A320 Household plane — the biggest single plane order ever positioned by any airline with Airbus. These deliveries, scheduled between 2030 and 2035, will additional strengthen IndiGo’s scale and long-term development prospects.
Amid regulatory motion, IndiGo has mentioned operations are stabilising. Demonstrating “steady operational normalisation” over the previous 5 days, the airline mentioned it’s working over 2,050 flights a day below its revised, scaled-down schedule in keeping with authorities directives. All 138 operational locations stay related, and on-time efficiency has returned to regular ranges, based on an IndiGo spokesperson.
As India’s aviation sector continues its fast growth, the present episode underscores the challenges of balancing development, security, competitors and accountability in an more and more consolidated market.
Printed – December 14, 2025 01:54 am IST