Our Bureau
Mumbai
Due to ongoing cross-border conflicts between India and Pakistan, the air passenger traffic growth of India is going to drop reaching 4-6% in FY2026. This drop is lower than the previous expectations that people had of 7-10% because of the surging political tensions which led to flight disruptions and cancellations. Not only that but the travel hesitancy in people has increased after the horrific Ahmedabad plane crash.
It is being reported that the Indian aviation industry is bracing itself to suffer a heavy net loss of around Rs 9,500-10,500 crore in FY26. The losses have widened heavily after an estimated loss of Rs 5,500 crore in FY25. As per the Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency (ICRA), these losses that the industry is suffering are majorly due to the ongoing geopolitical situation and trade headwinds.
“This slowdown in passenger traffic growth at a time when aircraft deliveries are rising, is estimated to widen the net loss of the Indian aviation industry to Rs 95-105 billion (Rs 9,500-10,500 crore) in FY2026 from Rs 55 billion (Rs 5,500 crore) in FY2025,” said ICRA.
The outlook of the ICRA on the Indian aviation industry shows stability driven by the expectations of modest growth in domestic air passenger traffic in the coming FY26. However, there is a heavy risk for a potential downslide and thus it requires close monitoring. The ICRA has also estimated the losses for the current fiscal will remain significantly lower than those that the country had faced in FY2022 and FY2023 at Rs 21,600 crore and Rs 17,900 crore, respectively.
The aviation sector in the fiscal year 2025 had faced many challenges which involved the unavailability of pilots and cabin crew. This resulted in several flights getting delayed and even cancelled. Such issues impacted the capacity availability and added to the grievances of customers.
