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New Delhi: IndiGo and Air India together hold more than 90% of India’s aviation market, the Union government admitted in the parliament on Monday (March 30). IndiGo on its own holds more than 60% of the market share.

In a written reply to Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sagarika Ghose in the Rajya Sabha, minister of state for civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol said that Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data for 2025 shows IndiGo holds a nearly 64% market share, and the Air India Group holds 27%.

“Together, these two airlines hold 91% of the domestic market,” Mohol said in the reply.

Among other domestic airlines as of January 2026, the state-owned Alliance Air holds 0.4% market share, Akasa Air holds 4.8%, Spice Jet 3.9%. Regional airlines Fly91, Indiaone Air and Star Air hold 0.2%, 0.01% and 0.6%, respectively.

IndiGo’s market share stood at 63.6% and that of Air India at 26.5% in the same time period.

“Effectively a DUOPOLY, even if not explicitly acknowledged,” Ghose said, sharing the reply in a post on X.

December flight disruptions

Regarding IndiGo’s flight cancellations in December 2025 – a massive operational meltdown that stranded families, and caused sustained troubles for travellers – the minister said that the budget airline cancelled 5,689 scheduled domestic flights, as per DGCA data.

Mohol also told the Rajya Sabha that between December 3 and 5, a total of 3,64,933 passengers were “impacted” due to the flight disruptions. He added that as of March 23, IndiGo has paid Rs 4,620.5 lakh towards compensation.

The airline has also informed DGCA that all refunds pertaining to flight cancellations during the mass disruption have been processed and credited to the original mode of payment, the house was told.

At the same time, the government said it had no data on airline-wise losses due to cancelled flights.

Between just December 3 and 5, IndiGo had cancelled over 1,000 flights nationwide and delayed many others, citing crew shortages, even as it typically operated more than 2,200 flights a day.

While this was the peak disruption, coinciding with the wedding season, IndiGo’s cancellations continued through the month. While the DGCA had issued a show cause notice to the company, IndiGo had said it was unable to “pinpoint the exact cause” for the disruptions.

At the heart of the crisis were the new flight duty time limitation (FDTL) rules, a move that gave pilots and cabin crew more rest, which IndiGo was accused of failing to plan adequately for, forcing it to ground more than half its fleet.

The Union civil aviation ministry had ordered a “high-level inquiry” and threatened action. However, it also quietly relaxed rules for some time to help IndiGo recover.

Many passengers criticised the cancellations on social media, with some also alleging that the disruptions reflected a consequence of a market monopoly.

Meanwhile, opposition parties questioned IndiGo parent InterGlobe Aviation’s big purchase of electoral bonds in 2023, a year before the Lok Sabha elections. InterGlobe Aviation, InterGlobe Air Transport and InterGlobe Real Estate Ventures had together bought a total of 36 bonds of Rs 1 crore each.

© The Wire