IndiGo Crisis Deepens: Airline Cancels All Delhi Flights Till Dec 5 Midnight
The low-cost carrier cancelled more than 400 flights, and a large number of flights were delayed at various airports on Friday.
IndiGo on Friday cancelled all flights from Delhi Airport till Dec. 5 midnight, sources from Delhi Airport told NDTV Profit. According to sources, IndiGo had pitched pan-India shutdown till 4 p.m to the Civil Aviation Ministry. However, the proposal was not accepted as a sudden shutdown can cause a cascading effect across the sector.
The low-cost carrier cancelled more than 400 flights, and a large number of flights were delayed at various airports on Friday. Hundreds of passengers faced hardships at the airports as flights were delayed for long periods.
In an official statement from IndiGo, the airlines confirmed that all domestic flights departing from Delhi Airport (DEL) on Dec 5, 2025, are cancelled till 11:59PM.
"We express our profound apologies to all our valued customers and stakeholders who have been significantly impacted by these unforeseen events," said the statement.
"To support our affected customers, we are offering them refreshments, next available flight options as per their preference, hotel accommodation, assistance in retrieving their luggage and full refunds, as applicable," added the statement.
IndiGo requested all passengers who were scheduled to fly from Delhi today to get in touch with their ground staff at Delhi Airport for guidance regarding luggage collection.
IndiGo - DGCA Talks
IndiGo told aviation watchdog DGCA that operations are expected to be fully stabilised by February 10, 2026, and sought temporary relaxations in flight duty norms on a day when the country's largest airline cancelled more than 550 flights, disrupting the travel plans of hundreds of passengers.
Acknowledging that the flight disruptions happening for the past few days are primarily due to misjudgment and planning gaps in implementing the second phase of the Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms, IndiGo also informed the regulator that there will be more cancellations till December 8 and from that day, there will also be a reduction in services.
The airline, which generally operates around 2,300 flights daily and presents its punctuality as a hallmark, recorded an on-time performance of 19.7% on Wednesday, a steep fall from 35% reported on Tuesday.
With some spike seen in airfares amid IndiGo flight cancellations, authorities are closely monitoring the situation, and the airline has also been asked to ensure that there is no increase in airfares due to the current disruptions.
IndiGo has informed DGCA that corrective actions are underway, stable flight operations will be fully restored by February 10, 2026, while more cancellations are expected in the next few days. The airline will reduce flight operations from December 8 to minimise disruptions, according to a statement issued by DGCA.
The regulator has also asked the airline to submit a detailed roadmap covering projected crew recruitment, viz-a-viz induction of aircraft, plans for crew training, roster restructuring, safety-risk assessments, and mitigation measures.
- with inputs from PTI
