With 7.64 million seats, the Mumbai-Delhi route in 2025 was the eighth busiest route in the world.
Photograph: ANI Photo
It is among the top 10 busiest routes in the world in terms of the number of seats and flights.
And it is on this lucrative route that the Air India group, which came from behind, has overtaken IndiGo — the airline that lords over the Indian skies with a 65 per cent share of the aviation sweepstakes — to grab the top slot.
The intense competition has also helped push airfares down on the route in 2025 compared with the previous year.
According to the latest data from aviation analytics firm OAG, with 7.64 million seats, the Mumbai-Delhi route in 2025 was the eighth busiest route in the world, bigger than the likes of Beijing-Shanghai Hongqiao.
Not only that, in 2025, according to OAG global research, there were only eight domestic routes in the world that had an average daily frequency of 100 or more flights a day, or simply more than four flights every hour.
Doing the honours on this list was just one route from India, between Mumbai and Delhi.
It ranked seventh in the pecking order, with as many as 107 flights being deployed on the route on an average day.
The sheer volume potential on this route has led to tough competition, with the Air India group (Air India and Air India Express) successfully challenging IndiGo’s domination.
According to data from Cirium, in December 2025, with 341,202 seats on the route, Air India and Air India Express together controlled over 48.8 per cent of the capacity.
In contrast, IndiGo was in second spot, with a 38.8 per cent share and 271,052 seats.
The remaining capacity is deployed mainly by Akasa Air and SpiceJet. In contrast, IndiGo trimmed its capacity in December by 6,820 seats.
The Air India group has clearly pushed the pedal on the Mumbai-Delhi route by doubling the number of Air India Express flights from 63 in December 2024 to 124, and by adding another 46 Air India flights on the route.
Even airlines like Akasa Air have upped the ante — increasing seat capacity by over 33 per cent in December over the previous year — while SpiceJet raised capacity by 23 per cent.
What is interesting is that the growing competition has helped bring down airfares.
OAG research reckons that average airfares on this route were at $66 in 2025, dropping by 7 per cent from 2024 levels due to the intensity of competition.
However, aviation experts say demand on this route — which connects the commercial capital with the administrative capital — still provides scope for more capacity.
Mumbai, however, has been constrained by the fact that the Adani-run Mumbai International Airport was capacity-limited and, in fact, lost its No 2 position in terms of flyers carried to Bengaluru this year.
But with the new Navi Mumbai airport up and running (also under the Adani group), the route is expected to see many more flight deployments from the summer season.
High-flying battle
- With 7.64 million seats in 2025, Mumbai-Delhi was the eighth busiest route in the world
- It is the only route in India with an average of over 100 flights a day; there are only eight domestic routes globally in this category
- The Air India group now has the largest seat capacity on this route; IndiGo is at No. 2. Akasa has expanded capacity by 33 per cent
- Intense competition has seen average airfares fall by 7 per cent in 2025 over the previous year
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff
