18,746 passengers denied the shipment in 2024 in Indian Airlines, Air India heads the list | Numberspeak

Last update:March 2, 2025, 13:06 IST

Of the total of 18,746 passengers who were denied embarkation in 2024, 14,545 were from Air India alone

To reduce the possibility that flights come out with empty seats, airlines generally exceed flights to a limited degree, according to the DGCA. (PTI file for representation)

A total of 18,746 passengers were denied the approach in the 2024 calendar year and more than 77% of these passengers were from Air India Group, the official data analyzed by News18 show. The data of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA) show that Air India and Air India Express denied more than 51 passengers on average in 2024 and approximately 40 of them were denied by Air India and Air India Express.

As shown in the graph below, of the total of 18,746 passengers who were denied the approach in 2024, 14,545 were from Air India alone. The situation did not improve in 2025 from the total of 3,171 passengers who were denied the approach in January, 2,959 were passengers of Air India and 178 of Spicejet.

Each month, the Air India group is spending several rupee Lakhs to provide facilities and compensation to passengers who were denied the approach, as the data shows. In January 2025, the company spent RS 295 Lakh for this, since it offered alternative flights and accommodation, soft drinks and meals to passengers who were denied the approach.

November 2024 saw the greatest number of passengers denied the approach. Of the 3,529 passengers who were denied the approach of the Indian airlines, Air India Group denied 3,335. That month, the group spent RS 273 million rupees on facilitation and compensation.

In August, only 728 passengers were denied the approach, lower for a month in 2024. A total of 547 of these passengers were from Air India.

In 2024, 1,613,31 Passenger LAKH were transported by national airlines during the period from January to December. In terms of market share, Indigo has the greatest participation followed by Air India and Spicejet in 2024. Of the total, Indigo transported 62% of the total passengers in 2024, followed by Air India with 16.5% and Spicejet with 3.7%. Sewing, which merged with Air India in November 2024, had a market share of 8.2%. Aix Connect had a market share of 3.8% in 2024 before merging with Air India Express.

In January 2025, a total of 146.11 Lakh passengers were transported by national airlines. Indigo’s participation was 65.2%, while Air India Group was 25.7%. Akasa Air transported 4.7% of passengers.

The rules

To reduce the possibility that flights come out with empty seats, airlines generally exceed flights to a limited degree, according to the DGCA.

In the case of the excess reservation in a particular flight, there may be circumstances in a particular day when more passengers report for the flight than the amount of seats available.

“Under such conditions, the airline can deny the shipment while you can make confirmed reserves to travel on the flight and report a lot within the specified time before the flight outlet,” reads the rules.

In addition, he said that if the passenger voluntarily empties the seats, the airline, to his own discretion, will offer the benefits or facilities he wishes to offer. However, if the passenger is denied to address the desire, airlines can pay monetary compensation in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Aviation requirement (CAR) Section 3, M Series, Part IV.