IndiGo flight cancellations LIVE: Air India announces measures to assist stranded passengers; DGCA issues show-cause notice to IndiGo CEO

A passenger from Tamil Nadu, stranded at Mumbai Airport after his IndiGo return flight was abruptly cancelled, described the chaos and lack of support from the airline. Sudhakar, who traveled to Mumbai on December 3 for work, said he and two companions have spent the last two days arranging alternate travel and covering food and accommodation costs themselves, while the airline has offered no confirmed flight or refund. The group is now planning a costly road journey back to Bengaluru amid mounting frustration.

Authorities will take appropriate action in the matter of IndiGo flight disruptions depending on the inquiry committee findings, a senior government official said on Saturday.

As flight disruptions continued for the fifth straight day, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu, along with senior civil aviation ministry officials, held a “serious meeting” with IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers to review the situation and address the issues, the official said.

The meeting, held in the national capital on Saturday, was attended by Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha, and DGCA chief Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, among others.

At the meeting, IndiGo CEO was also asked to ensure that the airline complies with the new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) within the given timeframe.

IndiGo Airlines cancelled 14 flights at Ranchi Airport on Saturday, officials said.

Airport Director Vinod Kumar told PTI that 14 scheduled IndiGo flights were cancelled and five were delayed during the day.

“Of the 36 scheduled IndiGo flights at Ranchi Airport, 14 flights — seven arrivals and seven departures — were cancelled, while five others were delayed,” Kumar said.

He added that the airport is sharing real-time flight updates for IndiGo on its social media handle and has set up an additional counter to assist passengers with refunds and rescheduling.

A scuffle broke out between passengers as the cancellation chaos caused by IndiGo’s operational disruptions continued to affect thousands of travellers.

The Railways on Saturday announced 84 special trains across all zones to assist passengers affected by IndiGo’s mass flight cancellations, PTI reported.

These trains, which will make 104 trips, were arranged at short notice after assessing train traffic conditions in major cities including New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Patna and Howrah.

Travel aggregator ixigo on Saturday announced that it will refund the full convenience and assured fees for tickets booked through its platform for passengers affected by IndiGo’s ongoing flight cancellations.

The refund applies to all customers whose IndiGo flights are cancelled between 3 and 8 December 2025, the company said in a statement.

“We understand how stressful flight disruptions can be. To support inconvenienced passengers in these difficult times, ixigo will refund full convenience fees and assured fees for all our customers whose IndiGo flights are cancelled by the airline between December 3 and 8, 2025,” it added.

The company also said it is committed to helping passengers secure quick full refunds and arrange alternative bookings.

IndiGo cancelled more than 800 flights on Saturday, leaving thousands of travellers stranded across the country.

IndiGo released an updated statement on Saturday evening, saying it operated over 1,500 flights on Saturday compared to around 700 on Friday. The airline added that over 95 percent of its network connectivity has been restored.

In its full statement, IndiGo said:

“Addressing the recent disruptions in our network, we had cancelled a significant number of flights and operated little above 700 flights yesterday connecting 113 destinations. The main objective was to reboot the network, systems, and rosters so that we could start afresh today with a higher number of flights and improved stability, and there are some early signs of improvement. Today, we are on our way to operate over 1,500 flights by end of day. With regards to destinations, over 95% of network connectivity has already been re-established as we are able to operate to 135 out of the existing 138 destinations in operations.

While we understand that we have a long way to go, we are committed to build back the trust of our customers. We would like to thank all our partners and government agencies for their constant support and guidance. Most of all, we would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to our customers and staff for their patience and cooperation through these tough times. We apologise once again.”

The Air India Group on Saturday announced fare caps and additional flights to assist thousands of passengers affected by IndiGo’s nationwide travel disruptions. The airline said it has capped economy fares on all non-stop domestic routes since 4 December to prevent price spikes caused by the sudden surge in demand.

Both Air India and Air India Express have applied the fare ceilings. However, the group noted that fare caps are not feasible for multi-leg or complex itineraries.

The airline added that it is deploying extra capacity on key routes to ensure passengers and their baggage reach their destinations as quickly as possible.

The announcement comes shortly after the Centre introduced temporary airfare caps following IndiGo’s massive cancellations, which affected over 1,000 flights on Friday alone.

The new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL), implemented on 1 November, have not been fully put on hold; only limited, temporary relaxations have been granted for IndiGo’s A320 fleet to help stabilise schedules disrupted over the past few days, a civil aviation ministry official clarified.

The confusion arose after the ministry issued a statement on Friday containing an unclear line in the first paragraph. The statement said: “The ministry of civil aviation has taken urgent and proactive measures to address the ongoing disruption in flight schedules, particularly those of Indigo Airlines. The Flight Duty Times Limitations (FDTL) orders of the DGCA have been placed in abeyance with immediate effect.”

IndiGo Airlines cancelled 41 flights at the N S C Bose International Airport on Saturday.

An Airports Authority of India official said that of the 41 flights, 21 were scheduled to arrive from various destinations and 20 were set to depart for different cities during the day.

Kolkata Airport had 73 scheduled arrivals and 102 departures on Saturday, the official added.

On Friday, IndiGo had cancelled 47 flights, including both arrivals and departures, from Kolkata airport.

Passengers at Goa’s Dabolim Airport faced major inconvenience on Saturday as at least 14 domestic IndiGo flights were cancelled, including services to Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Many of the cancellations were announced at the last minute, leaving travellers stranded.

The disruptions have affected Goa’s peak tourism season, with stakeholders warning of possible revenue losses. To support stranded passengers, regional carrier FLY91 has added extra flights between Hyderabad and Goa.

As many as 35 IndiGo flights scheduled to depart from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport were cancelled on Saturday, adding to the frustration of stranded passengers already dealing with uncertainty and complaints about inadequate facilities.

Similar disruptions were reported at Vadodara airport, where IndiGo cancelled three departures as the airline continued to struggle to stabilise operations after five days of severe schedule disruptions.

At Rajkot airport, the situation was relatively better. Only one IndiGo flight — to Mumbai — was cancelled, while seven services to Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Hyderabad and Bengaluru operated as scheduled, officials said.

Nitin Jadhav, President of the Indian Association Council of Aviation, told news agency ANI that the IndiGo management — not the pilots — is responsible for the widespread flight cancellations.

“The IndiGo management itself is responsible for this, not the pilots. The DGCA is supporting them. I am demanding a CBI inquiry into the DGCA and IndiGo. There is a hidden agenda behind this, and the DGCA is not doing its work properly,” he said.

Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule on Saturday demanded action against IndiGo airline following hundreds of flight cancellations over the past five days, which have caused severe distress to thousands of passengers nationwide.

“The Union government must take action against IndiGo. Thousands of people have faced difficulties in the last two days. We have raised this issue in Parliament. Such large-scale disruption without any prior information has caused loss of time and crores of rupees. We did not expect this from IndiGo. The Centre must create five more companies like IndiGo and share details in Parliament about why IndiGo’s service collapsed and what the solutions are,” Sule said.

IndiGo said in a post on X that refunds for recent flight cancellations will be processed automatically to the original payment method. The airline added that it will offer a full waiver on all cancellations or rescheduling requests for bookings between 5 December 2025 and 15 December 2025.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Saturday ordered IndiGo to settle all pending passenger refunds by 8.00 PM on Sunday, 7 December 2025, following widespread flight cancellations and disruptions. It also barred airlines from imposing rescheduling fees on affected travellers and warned that any lapse in meeting these directives would invite immediate regulatory action.

“To ensure seamless grievance redressal, IndiGo has been instructed to set up dedicated passenger support and refund facilitation cells. These cells have been tasked to proactively contact affected passengers and ensure that refunds and alternative travel arrangements are processed without the need for multiple follow-ups. The system of automatic refunds will remain active until operations stabilise completely,” the press release read.

IndiGo passengers at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport lost their cool on Saturday, engaging in a heated argument with airline staff at the ticket counter as nationwide flight cancellations continued to cause chaos. The mounting delays and lack of clarity over schedules have left travellers increasingly frustrated, triggering confrontations across several airports.

Hours after arriving in Mumbai, one passenger erupted in anger after his luggage had been left behind in Bengaluru. Sent from one counter to another without any clear answers, his frustration ultimately spilled into a public outburst, highlighting the growing exasperation of travellers amid ongoing airline disruptions, reported News18.

The Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA) has criticised the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s move to place the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) in abeyance. Following a meeting held on December 5, 2025, between the Ministry and pilot unions, the government announced that the implementation of the updated fatigue-mitigation standards would be put on hold. ALPA India said it is “deeply concerned that this step directly contradicts the Hon’ble Court’s directions” and undermines aviation-safety principles rooted in scientific evidence.

The association warned that delaying the enforcement of the revised FDTL norms not only weakens judicial authority but also increases operational risks for both pilots and passengers. “Keeping the FDTL in abeyance places pilots and passengers at heightened risk by delaying essential fatigue protections,” ALPA India stated in its release. The pilots’ body urged the Ministry and the regulator to comply with the Court’s mandate “in both letter and spirit” and reaffirmed that pilot and passenger safety must take precedence over commercial considerations.

IndiGo’s operational crisis continued on Saturday, forcing the cancellation of at least 14 domestic flights from Goa’s Dabolim airport, a senior official told PTI. The last-minute announcements left many passengers stranded outside the terminal in South Goa. According to an update on the airport’s X handle, flights to Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Cochin, Kolkata, Bangalore, Delhi, and Indore had been cancelled by the afternoon.

IndiGo’s nationwide disruption took a dramatic turn on Sunday after a newlywed couple, still in their wedding attire, was left stranded at Bhubaneswar airport amid mass cancellations. By 9 AM, the airline had already cancelled 109 flights across the country, causing widespread inconvenience to passengers. The couple, who had booked an advance IndiGo trip from Bhubaneswar to Kolkata and onwards to Durgapur for their wedding reception, now face uncertainty as their plans hang in the balance.

Sensing trouble amid IndiGo’s continuing disruptions, the newlyweds rushed to the airport straight from their wedding ceremony, hoping to make it to their reception scheduled for tomorrow. Despite completing web check-in, they were told to wait inside the terminal, only to learn that their flight had been delayed.

Delhi Airport issued a passenger advisory confirming that flight operations are steadily resuming after recent disruptions. While most services are returning to normal, some IndiGo flights continue to face delays, and travellers have been urged to check the latest flight status with the airline before heading to the airport.

Passenger Advisory issued at 10:15 Hours #DelhiAirport #PassengerAdvisory #DELAdvisory pic.twitter.com/jSLOf0Aifl

— Delhi Airport (@DelhiAirport) December 6, 2025

NCP SCP MP Supriya Sule on Sunday condemned the ongoing IndiGo flight cancellations and slammed the Centre for failing to issue any official statement in Parliament despite days of chaos.

#WATCH | On IndiGo flight cancellations, NCP-SCP MP Supriya Sule says, “We condemn what happened to IndiGo. Govt of India should issue an official statement in the Parliament and there should be an inquiry…You can see the condition that has been there for the past 2 days. Govt… pic.twitter.com/wGCpLjbqvG

— ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2025

As more than 500 IndiGo flights have been cancelled, leaving thousands of passengers stranded nationwide and triggering widespread frustration at airports. Long queues, uncertainty over flight status, one passenger, Kashish, described the ordeal while dropping off his aunt travelling from Jammu to Delhi, saying they had been struggling since the previous day with no clear information from the airline. He added that she was stuck for 12 hours during her last trip from Delhi and criticised the airline’s conduct as “unprofessional”, reflecting the growing anger among affected travellers.

#WATCH | A passenger, Kashish says, “I had come here to drop off my aunt. She is travelling from Jammu to Delhi. We have been struggling since yesterday but we do not know the status…When she had come here from Delhi, she was stuck there for 12 hours. This is such a big airline… https://t.co/rWIcNIiuBP pic.twitter.com/SXOz3dOsT1

— ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2025

India’s largest airline has cancelled over 500 flights since Tuesday. Dozens of flights have been delayed, and thousands of passengers are stranded at airports across the country.

Now, the spotlight is on Rahul Bhatia, the man who co-founded IndiGo alongside Rakesh Gangwal, a US citizen and industry veteran.
But who is Bhatia, who usually maintains a low profile in the media? What do we know about him? Read more