IndiGo cancellations soar past 550; to fully restore flight ops by Feb 10 next year

IndiGo cancelled over 550 flights on Thursday as operational disruptions continued for a third day, prompting long delays nationwide. After meetings with the Civil Aviation Ministry and DGCA, the airline said flights will be reduced from December 8, with full normalisation expected by February 10, 2026

Mumbai/New Delhi: The country’s largest airline IndiGo on Thursday cancelled more than 550 domestic and international flights, and services were delayed at various airports as operational disruptions continued for the third straight day, impacting travel plans of hundreds of passengers.

On a day when the Civil Aviation Ministry and watchdog DGCA held a meeting with senior IndiGo officials to take stock of the situation as well as the mitigation plans, the airline’s CEO, Pieter Elbers, told the staff that normalising operations and bringing back punctuality will not be an “easy target”.

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Meanwhile, IndiGo informed DGCA that it will reduce flights from December 8 and stable flight operations will be fully restored by February 10, 2026.

The airline, which generally operates around 2,300 flights daily and presents its punctuality as a hallmark, recorded an on-time performance of 19.7 per cent on Wednesday, a steep fall from 35 per cent reported on Tuesday.

Grappling with significant flight disruptions due to a multitude of factors, including cabin crew woes and technology issues, the airline has adjusted its schedules which means that pre-planned service cancellations are being carried out as part of normalising operations.

Sources told PTI that more than 550 flights were cancelled at different airports, including 172 flights at the Delhi airport, on Thursday.

There were at least 118 flight cancellations at the Mumbai airport, 100 at Bangalore, 75 at Hyderabad, 35 at Kolkata, 26 at Chennai, and 11 at Goa. Flight cancellations were reported at other airports also.

“IndiGo has been experiencing a sharp rise in cancellations, reaching approximately 170-200 flights per day, which is substantially higher than normal,” the DGCA said.

Flight disruptions due to misjudgement, planning gaps in implementing the second phase of the Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms as the crew requirements exceeded their anticipation, according to a statement issued by DGCA.

IndiGo has informed the regulator that corrective actions are underway, stable flight operations will be fully restored by February 10, 2026 while more cancellations are expected in the next few days.

The airline will reduce flight operations from December 8 to minimise disruptions.

DGCA has asked IndiGo to submit a detailed roadmap covering projected crew recruitment viz-a-viz induction of aircraft as well as the plan for crew training, roster restructuring, safety-risk assessments, and mitigation measures.

“IndiGo is directed to submit the FDTL relaxations required to normalise the flight operations for DGCA review,” the statement said.