Airfares on major domestic routes skyrocketed on Friday after IndiGo cancelled all its domestic departures from Delhi Airport until midnight. The sudden grounding created an immediate shortage of seats, causing a sharp rise in last-minute ticket prices across the country.
Delhi Airport confirmed on its official X handle that all IndiGo domestic flights scheduled to depart on December 5 would remain cancelled until 11:59 p.m. The airport added that operations for other airlines continued as usual and urged passengers to check flight status before heading to terminals.
No Flights on Key Routes, Ticket Prices Surge
According to the airline’s official website, Air India had no flights available from Delhi to Bengaluru, Delhi to Mumbai, or Delhi to Chennai for Dec 5, leaving travelers with limited options. According to ixigo at 2:30 pm, an Air India one-stop flight from Delhi to Bengaluru for Friday night price surged to Rs 1.02 lakh and a direct SpiceJet ticket on the same route was priced around Rs 93,719. Delhi–Mumbai fares on SpiceJet peaked at Rs 55,000, and Chennai–Delhi tickets touched Rs 90,000, with SpiceJet being the only operator as per ixigo at 2:30 pm. Hyderabad–Delhi flights were also impacted, with one-stop Air India tickets climbing to Rs 71,000.
The disruption extended beyond Delhi, with more than 220 IndiGo flights cancelled in the capital, over 100 in Bengaluru, and nearly 90 in Hyderabad. The chaos caused long queues, extended delays, and thousands of stranded passengers.
IndiGo CEO Admits Operational Challenges
IndiGo has been struggling with widespread cancellations for several days. The airline attributed the disruptions to the rollout of new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms, which led to crew shortages and scheduling difficulties. While the rules are designed to reduce pilot fatigue and improve safety, IndiGo admitted it underestimated crew requirements under the new system. In November alone, more than 1,200 flights were cancelled across the network, and on Thursday, over 500 flights were grounded nationwide.
“This past few days have been difficult for many of our IndiGo customers and colleagues… We could not live up to that promise these past days and we have publicly apologized for that,” IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said.