IndiGo Cancels 50+ Flights Across India: Chandigarh and Amritsar Among Affected Airports
The cancellations come amid ongoing operational challenges for the country's largest airline.
IndiGo Cancels 50+ Flights Across India: Chandigarh and Amritsar Among Affected Airports
On Tuesday, IndiGo cancelled around 50 domestic flights across several Indian airports, including Chandigarh, Amritsar, Mumbai, Delhi, Varanasi, Pune, Indore and Patna, according to the airline’s official flight status on its website. The airline has not publicly disclosed an official reason for the cancellations.
The cancellations come amid ongoing operational challenges for the country’s largest airline. Aviation sources said earlier this month, IndiGo faced major disruption that led to the cancellation of thousands of flights nationwide, leaving lakhs of passengers stranded and triggering regulatory scrutiny. In response to the earlier disruption, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) constituted a four-member investigation panel to examine the airline’s manpower planning, pilot rostering systems, and its preparedness to implement recently updated duty and rest norms for pilots. The panel has already summoned and questioned IndiGo’s Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers and Chief Operating Officer Isidre Porqueras, and its report is expected this week, DGCA officials confirmed.
Industry sources said that under its winter schedule, the airline was initially permitted to operate 15,014 flights per week (about 2,144 flights per day) on domestic routes, a 6 per cent increase over the previous summer season. However, after the earlier cancellations, which at one point reached 1,600 flights in a single day, the government reduced IndiGo’s schedule by 10 per cent, limiting it to no more than 1,930 daily flights (excluding international and cargo services).
Industry officials have linked the disruptions to a combination of crew shortages, pilot scheduling issues, and compliance with new aviation norms, although IndiGo has not publicly confirmed these as the causes behind the latest round of cancellations. The airline continues to update its flight status through official channels, advising affected passengers to check before travelling.
Aviation analysts observed that the repeated cancellations have reignited concerns over operational stability at IndiGo and the robustness of airline scheduling practices ahead of the peak holiday season.
Source: The Tribune