Against sentiments that air travel will be hit post Ahmedabad crash on June 12, as nervous passengers held back on their plans to fly, Air India’s market share rose to 27.1% in June compared to 26.5% in May this year, while IndiGo and Akasa’s remained flat.

Air India also managed to sell more seats in the higher bucket fare on key metro sectors in June compared to May, as per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

This comes as trouble continues with the Tata-owned airlines, with the regulator issuing four show cause notices to Air India on July 23 over a range of regulatory violations related to flight duty period and weekly rest requirements, cabin crew rest and duty norms, crew training, and operational procedures.

According to the data released by DGCA, passengers carried by domestic airlines during January-June 2025 were 851.74 lakhs as against 793.48 lakhs during the corresponding period of the previous year, thereby registering an annual growth of 7.34% and a monthly growth of 3.02%.

The growth comes despite flight disruptions and cancellations from April onwards after the Pahalgam terror attack, followed by Operation Sindoor and the Air India crash. The tourist season starts in April onwards, clubbed with summer vacations between April-June, while monsoon sees a slump and rises again in September onwards with the start of the festival and wedding season.

The Air India market for the Jan-March quarter was 26.5% while for the second quarter, April-June was 26.9%. For IndiGo, India’s largest airline by market share, it was 64.3% in Q1 and 64.4% in Q2 and for Akasa it was 5.2% in Q2 and 4.8% in Q1 of FY26.  

Air India has been under increased scrutiny since the Air India crash. “Despite repeated warnings and enforcement action for non-compliance in the past, systemic issues related to compliance monitoring, crew planning, and training governance remain unresolved. The recurrence of such violations suggests a failure to establish and enforce effective control mechanisms,” noted the DGCA’s latest notice.

Air India said: “We acknowledge the receipt of these notices from the regulator related to certain voluntary disclosures that were made over the last year by Air India. We will respond to the said notices within the stipulated period. We remain committed to the safety of our crew and passengers.”