NEW DELHI, Aug. 27 -- Three months after the summer travel season peaked, India's aviation industry delivered a record and a warning in the same quarter. IndiGo, the country's dominant carrier, reported net profit of Rs 2,950 crore for Q1 FY27, a 56% jump from Rs 1,895 crore in the same period a year earlier. The rest of the industry mostly did not keep pace.

India's domestic passenger count reached 44.3 million in Q1 FY27 - April through June 2026 - according to data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, a 9% increase from the 40.6 million who flew domestically in Q1 FY26. The sustained demand growth is structural: more middle-income households flying for the first time, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities connected through the governmen...