India’s domestic aviation sector is likely to see 26,495 flights in operation per week during the upcoming Winter Schedule 2025 (WS25), reflecting a 3.4% rise in weekly departures compared to the summer season, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The schedule approved by the aviation regulator, effective from October 26 to March 28, 2026, was finalised after the slot conference held in September, and includes operations to and from 126 airports across the country.
According to the data provided by the civil aviation ministry, the number of airports served has, however, dropped from 129 in the Summer Schedule 2025 (SS25), as services were suspended from seven airports, namely Aligarh, Moradabad, Chitrakoot, Bhavnagar, Ludhiana, Pakyong and Shravasti. However, Amravati, Hissar, Purnia and Rupsi have been added as new destinations for scheduled airlines in the winter schedule.
According to the DGCA, IndiGo, country’s largest airline, continues to dominate the domestic network with 15,014 departures per week, followed by Air India (4,277) and Air India Express (3,171). SpiceJet will operate 1,568 flights weekly, while Akasa Air has 1,027 scheduled departures.
Among regional carriers, Alliance Air and Star Air will operate 520 and 538 weekly flights, respectively. Fly Big (58), IndiaOne (126) and Fly91 (196) round off the list, taking the total weekly departures to 26,495.
When compared with WS24, most airlines have been observed to expand their capacity. IndiGo’s weekly flights rose from 13,691 to 15,014, Air India Express from 2,832 to 3,171, and SpiceJet from 1,297 to 1,568. However, combined Air India and Vistara operations saw a dip from 4,779 to 4,277, reflecting the ongoing network integration under the Tata Group.