Airports across India were calmer on Saturday, but many frustrated passengers were still waiting outside the Bengaluru and Mumbai airports after 385 IndiGo flights were cancelled, according to a Reuters report.
This marks the fifth day of disruptions for the country’s largest airline. IndiGo has cancelled thousands of flights this week, throwing air travel into chaos. The government has stepped in with special relief measures and even arranged trains to help stranded passengers travel.
IndiGo faces its biggest crisis in 20 years
This has now become the biggest crisis in IndiGo’s 20-year history. The airline, known for being on time and offering low fares, said it failed to prepare properly before new rules for pilots came into effect on November 1. These rules involve stricter rest and night flying limits, which affected the airline’s ability to schedule its crew.
On Friday alone, more than 1,000 IndiGo flights were cancelled. The Delhi airport posted on X (formerly Twitter) saying operations were slowly improving, but many IndiGo flights were still affected.
124 flights were cancelled in Bengaluru on Saturday, along with 109 in Mumbai, 86 in Delhi and 66 in Hyderabad, Reuters reported citing sources.
IndiGo expects normal services soon
The government has now relaxed some rules for IndiGo and the airline says it expects operations to stabilise between December 10 and 15.
Despite that, hundreds of passengers were still waiting outside major airports, with some unaware that their flights had been cancelled.
One passenger, Satish Konde, who needed to travel from Mumbai to Nagpur, said he was checked in before being told his connecting flight was cancelled. “I am waiting for my luggage to be returned,” he told the news agency.
Meanwhile, other major Indian airlines like Air India and Akasa have not faced cancellations under the new rules.
