IndiGo cancels 180 flights from Bengaluru, Hyderabad; govt to cut airline’s winter slots

IndiGo cancelled around 180 flights from Bengaluru and Hyderabad on Tuesday as disruptions continued for the eighth day. Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the airline will face reduced winter schedule slots, which will be reassigned to other carriers until operations stabilise.

Mumbai: IndiGo cancelled around 180 flights from Bengaluru and Hyderabad on Tuesday, as the disruption in the crisis-hit airline prolonged for the eighth consecutive day, sources said.

“IndiGo is not operating 58 flights to and from Hyderabad on Tuesday. Of these, 14 are arrivals and 44 departures,” the sources said, adding that the number of cancellations at Bengaluru Airport stood at 121, of which 58 are arrivals and 63 departures.

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Meanwhile, the carrier is likely to lose some of its routes to other domestic airlines during the ongoing winter schedule after Union Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the government will “definitely” reduce IndiGo slots.

The Rahul Bhatia-controlled airline operates over 2,200 flights per day from 90-odd domestic destinations and 40-plus abroad destinations.

“We will definitely reduce the number of routes, which are in IndiGo’s (winter) schedule. The order to this effect will be issued. This will be a kind of penalty on the airline as they will not be able to fly on those (curtailed) routes,” Naidu told DD News on Monday.

He said the routes, which will be reduced from IndiGo’s schedule, will be given to other carriers. He added that when the airline demonstrates the ability to operate them, they will be returned to IndiGo.

The Gurugram-based carrier, which commands over 65 per cent of India’s total domestic traffic, had cancelled over 560 flights from six metro airports alone on Monday.