Air travel across India remained in turmoil for a fourth consecutive day on Friday after IndiGo, the country’s largest airline, cancelled more than 500 flights, including all departures from New Delhi, leaving thousands of passengers stranded and prompting authorities to announce special relief measures.
The crisis comes after Indian regulators introduced stricter rules for pilots, limiting night flying hours and total flight duty times, in a bid to improve aviation safety. IndiGo admitted it had failed to adequately prepare for the November 1 implementation of the new rules, and with the busy December travel season approaching, the airline has been forced to cancel hundreds of flights this week.
In a statement, IndiGo said: “These last few days we have a serious operational crisis. While this will not be resolved overnight, we assure our customers we will do everything in our capacity to help them in the meantime.”
Following a request by the airline, India’s civil aviation authorities granted temporary exemptions from some of the new rules to help it cope with the crisis. IndiGo earlier said it did not expect to fully restore operations until February 10, but promised “progressive improvement” starting Saturday.
Other major Indian carriers, including Air India and Akasa, have not been affected by the new regulations.
Delhi airport reported that all IndiGo departures on Friday were cancelled, a total of 235 flights, while Chennai airport also halted all departing IndiGo services.
Airport sources said 165 flights were cancelled in Mumbai, 102 in Bengaluru, and 92 in Hyderabad. Other major airports also reported widespread cancellations until 6 p.m. (1230 GMT) Friday.
Scenes of chaos were reported at airports across the country, with passengers confronting airline staff and venting frustrations. Videos circulated widely on social media showing crowds of stranded travellers, including children waiting for hours inside terminals.
At Bengaluru airport, a group of passengers could be seen shouting, “Down with IndiGo! Down with IndiGo!” Another video showed a father angrily demanding a sanitary pad for his daughter from airline staff. In Delhi, dozens of children were seen waiting in the terminal from early morning, tired and hungry, according to social media posts.
Temporary relief from pilot duty rules
IndiGo’s shares fell nearly 3 per cent on Friday, taking their weekly losses to 10.3 per cent. The main opposition party in India has called for a parliamentary debate on the issue.
The new regulations limit pilots to two night-time landings per week, down from six previously, and also set maximum flight duty periods. IndiGo has been temporarily exempted from these rules until February 10 to ease operational pressure.
The airline has announced waivers on cancellations and booking changes for travel between December 5 and December 15. It has also arranged ground transportation and thousands of hotel rooms for stranded passengers.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.