India’s largest airline, IndiGo, has sought approval to operate at least 275 additional daily flights, about a 15% increase over its current 1,900-odd departures, during the summer schedule from April to October, according to a presentation made to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
If approved, the airline would operate around 2,175 daily flights—about 8% higher than the 2,022 flights it flew last summer.
This assumes significance as the revised target is roughly 15% lower than its earlier ambition of scaling up to 2,550 daily departures, reflecting a more cautious approach amid pilot hiring requirements and stricter flight duty time limitation (FDTL) norms.
Tempered expansion
In its submission to the DGCA, IndiGo indicated a range of 2,175 to 2,310 daily departures for the summer season. The airline has told the regulator it is “revisiting the schedule” and that “final numbers (are) likely to be closer to the lower end of the range,” a senior government official said. Documents reviewed by Mint confirm the same.
The moderated outlook marks a step back from its earlier aggressive projections of 2,370 to 2,550 daily flights, which were based on expected fleet additions and higher aircraft utilization. Updated presentations to the regulator reflect operational constraints, particularly around pilot availability, attrition, and compliance with revised FDTL safety norms.
The capacity moderation is also expected to reflect in its financial metrics. Due to the slower expansion, IndiGo is expecting a mid-single-digit growth in unit cost (excluding fuel and forex) for FY26. Management expects available seat per kilometre (ASK)—a measure of passenger capacity—to grow 10% in the fourth quarter, driven primarily by international destinations.
However, a low-to-mid-single-digit decline in passenger revenue per available seat kilometre (PRASK) is expected on a high year-ago base owing to Maha Kumbh-related traffic, brokerage Motilal Oswal said in a note following IndiGo’s January Q3 earnings announcement.
“Despite near-term challenges in the form of reduced capacity, capped prices, rupee depreciation, and rising damp leases, Indigo remains confident in its growth strategy as India’s domestic network remains the backbone, with expanding international connectivity,” the brokerage said in its January note.
In a compliance and corrective action plan shared with the regulator, IndiGo also referred to a potential reduction of up to 250 flights per day from April 2026 to ensure full FDTL compliance.
Fallout from disruptions
The recalibration follows an operational meltdown in December, when the country's civil aviation regulator curtailed IndiGo’s domestic departures by 10% after the airline cancelled 4,500 flights in the first week of the month, stranding thousands of passengers.
IndiGo had originally planned for 2,145 daily departures between November and March. The airline even ceded four percentage points of market share in December, over November, as per last released numbers of the DGCA.
Fleet and deployment
For the summer season, IndiGo plans to operate about 1,875–1,950 daily flights through its Airbus narrow-body fleet, down from an earlier plan of 2,000–2,175. Another 280–330 departures are expected to be operated by its ATR turboprop aircraft, compared with about 350 planned earlier. Around 20–30 flights will run under wet leases, according to documents reviewed by Mint.
The airline expects to have 325–330 Airbus aircraft in operation by October, up from about 300 currently in service, excluding grounded planes. Fleet expansion is expected between April and October too, the presentation shows. Its ATR fleet is expected to remain broadly stable at 45–50 aircraft.
As of 31 December 2025, IndiGo’s total fleet stood at about 440 aircraft, including Airbus, ATR and wet-leased planes. Approximately 10% remain grounded due to Pratt & Whitney engine issues.
Crew constraints
“Around 1,800–1,900 departures through its narrow-body fleet of Airbus looks achievable. And practical too. But the airline will still face capacity constraints as it has to create an adequate crew buffer considering in the revised FDTL norms, account for pilot leaves, vacations and other factors like sick leaves and crew not reporting for duty. The airline needs to have 8 sets of crew per airline (8 pilots and 8 co-pilots) if its aircraft utilization needs to be increased to 15-odd hours,” said Mark D Martin, aviation expert and chief executive at Gurugram-based Martin Consulting.
Crew availability remains a key monitorable.
IndiGo told the DGCA it had 2,398 captains as of 10 February—57 more than the minimum required under revised FDTL norms. It expects to increase this to 2,409 by end-April, training about 20 captains per month over the next three months.
However, the airline is bracing for 81 attritions over the next six months and 19 retirements in the next 12 months, which could offset incremental hiring. In January, IndiGo hired 100 trainee first officers to bolster cockpit strength and support expansion, it told the regulator.
Internal data from DGCA show that cancellations in the last two weeks of January (by IndiGo) were largely due to weather, airspace closures, and technical issues. No flights were grounded due to pilot duty limits.
"For an airline that planned to touch 2,550 daily flights, the revised summer schedule of around 2,175 departures signals a more cautious phase—one shaped as much by safety and staffing as by demand and fleet size. After nearly three quarters the airline has restarted pilot hiring," said Martin.
IndiGo did not respond to queries until the time of publication.