IndiGo, SpiceJet Shares Fall After DGCA Shows Lower May Market Share; Crude Rally Adds Pressure

Aviation stocks remained under pressure in Wednesday's trade (July 8), with shares of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company of IndiGo, and SpiceJet trading lower after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) released its May passenger traffic data. The report showed both airlines lost domestic market share during the month, while a sharp rise in crude oil prices further dampened investor sentiment.

At 3:19 PM, InterGlobe Aviation shares were trading at ₹5,138.00 on the NSE, down 4.76%. The stock had fallen as much as 3.2% during intraday trade to ₹5,220.

SpiceJet shares also came under pressure, slipping to an intraday low of ₹11.30 after opening at ₹11.49 on the BSE. The stock later pared losses to trade 0.43% higher at ₹11.58 at the time of writing.

According to the DGCA, India's domestic airlines carried 1.53 crore passengers in May, compared with 1.38 crore in April, marking a sequential increase of more than 11%. On a year-on-year basis, domestic passenger traffic rose 9.49%. During the January-May 2026 period, domestic airlines carried 729.40 lakh passengers, compared with 715.70 lakh in the corresponding period last year.

Despite the rise in passenger traffic, IndiGo's domestic market share declined to 64.9% in May from the previous month. SpiceJet's market share also slipped to 2.5%. In contrast, the Air India Group improved its market share to 25.6%, while Akasa Air maintained its share at 5.8%.

The DGCA data also showed IndiGo continued to lead the industry in operational performance. The airline recorded an on-time performance (OTP) of 82.8% across the country's 10 major airports in May, followed by Akasa Air at 78.3% and the Air India Group at 74.5%. Alliance Air reported an OTP of 70.5%, while SpiceJet's OTP stood at 26.5%.

The overall cancellation rate for scheduled domestic airlines stood at 0.55% during May. Flight cancellations affected 63,723 passengers, with airlines spending ₹70.32 lakh on compensation and passenger facilitation. More than 1.77 lakh passengers were impacted by delays, prompting airlines to incur over ₹4.24 crore in facilitation expenses. Additionally, 900 passengers were denied boarding during the month, with carriers paying ₹98.60 lakh towards compensation and related facilities.

Apart from the DGCA data, aviation stocks were also weighed down by higher crude oil prices. Brent crude climbed above $76 per barrel during the session after geopolitical tensions in West Asia escalated following fresh US military action against Iran and renewed sanctions on Iranian oil exports. Rising crude prices generally increase aviation turbine fuel costs, a key expense for airlines.

Despite Wednesday's decline, InterGlobe Aviation shares have gained over 3.4% so far in 2026, taking the company's market capitalisation to around ₹2.04 lakh crore. SpiceJet, however, has fallen nearly 61% since the start of the year and currently has a market capitalisation of about ₹1,771.8 crore.

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