All IndiGo domestic flights scheduled to depart from Delhi Airport on 5th December stand cancelled till midnight.
Air travel across India entered its fourth consecutive day of disruption on Friday as IndiGo cancelled roughly 500 flights, including all domestic departures from New Delhi, after miscalculating the impact of newly implemented pilot duty-time regulations.
The revised rules (announced last year and enforced from November 1) significantly expand mandatory rest periods, requiring pilots to receive 48 hours of weekly rest, up from 36. They also limit pilots to two night landings per week, a steep reduction from the previous allowance of six.
IndiGo acknowledged the turmoil, attributing the widespread cancellations to “misjudgment and planning gaps.”
Major Airports Hit Hard
Delhi Airport confirmed that all IndiGo domestic departures were cancelled for the entire day, a figure sources estimated at around 235 flights.
In Chennai, officials announced that IndiGo would halt all outbound flights to major metro cities until 6 p.m. Friday.
Airport sources also reported that IndiGo planned to cancel:
- 104 flights in Mumbai
- 102 in Bengaluru
- 92 in Hyderabad
The airline, which holds a commanding 60% share of India’s domestic aviation market, said normal operations are unlikely to resume before February 10. However, it has not provided a timeline for when the wave of daily cancellations will ease.
The ongoing disruption has stranded tens of thousands of passengers and placed enormous pressure on India’s already stretched airport infrastructure, marking one of the most significant operational crises in IndiGo’s recent history.
