An Air India service bound for London crashed moments after departing Ahmedabad Airport in Gujarat, northwestern India, on June 12, 2025, leaving 260 people dead.
The disaster had a single survivor: Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, a passenger from Leicester, who escaped in what has been described as a remarkable survival.
A formal investigation into the circumstances of the Air India crash is under way, with officials expected to publish their findings later this year.
Although key questions about the tragedy remain unanswered, emerging data indicates the carrier has faced difficulties rebuilding passenger confidence since the accident.
Before the crash, Air India had been recording year-on-year growth in customer traffic across the first five months of 2025.
However, figures from data analytics company Cirium shared with the Independent reveal a drastic drop in performance on the India to UK route after the incident.
An Air India flight crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad Airport on June 12, 2025
From January to May last year, the airline saw 18 to 32 per cent more passengers on the route a month compared to the same months in 2024.
Numbers were still up in July 2025, but dropped between August and December, with the most drastic decrease seen from August to October.
In August 2024, the airline flew a whopping 96,576 passengers on the UK to India route. This fell to 85,024 the following year, marking a nearly 13 per cent decrease.
September 2024 saw 100,559 passengers, while in September 2025 the airline carried 81,291 on the same route – a 19 per cent drop. Meanwhile, the figures fell by 14 per cent in October.
The decrease in passenger numbers on the route was also greater than Air India’s reduction in capacity. The airline reduced its number of seats in August and September by 4 per cent year-on-year.
The winter period 2025 looked more promising – November was only 0.7 per cent lower than the same time in 2024, and December 7 per cent down – but it is thought the busy Christmas period and IndiGo’s operational crisis contributed.
Air India still saw a year-on-year fall in November and December, despite other carriers operating the same India to UK route experiencing notable growth in both passengers and capacity.
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New data suggests the airline has struggled to attract passengers since the tragic incident
This year has also been a struggle for the airline to return to its pre-crash figures.
Passenger numbers for the first five months of 2026 proved to be lower year-on-year, with April and May seeing a particularly steep decline.
Some 77,822 passengers travelled the India-UK route, with Air India in April – 27 per cent less than April 2025. This is despite seat capacity being reduced by 10 per cent.
Meanwhile, passenger numbers in May fell by 25 per cent and seat capacity was only reduced by 11 per cent.
Rajiv Mehra, general secretary of the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality, insisted the more recent decline isn’t due to the crash on its own – other factors such as the Iran-US war and closure of Pakistani airspace are contributing too.
A spokesman for the airline told the Independent: ‘Air India continues to see encouraging customer response on its UK services as the airline’s transformation programme delivers tangible improvements in customer experience.
‘This progress has been achieved despite a challenging operating environment marked by prolonged Pakistan airspace restrictions, evolving competitive dynamics, and periodic geopolitical disruptions affecting international aviation markets.’
They added the airline has upgraded its fleet over the ‘past several years’ such as improved cabins, seats, and dining.
In August 2024 the airline flew a whopping 96,576 passengers on the UK to India route. This fell to 85,024 the following year, marking a nearly 13 per cent decrease
The spokesman said: ‘Across Air India’s UK operations, Net Promoter Score (NPS) has improved from -46 in FY24 to +2 in FY26 and further to +13 in FY27 year-to-date.
‘On London routes, NPS has improved by 66 points, from -45 in FY24 to +21 in FY27 year-to-date, reflecting the positive impact of the airline’s product, service, and digital enhancements.’
The airline insisted it was ‘focussed on delivering a consistently better experience for customers and further strengthening its position in the UK market’.
The Daily Mail approached Air India for comment.