News Desk: India’s air travel sector faced severe disruption for a fourth consecutive day on Friday as IndiGo cancelled nearly 500 flights across the country, including all departures from New Delhi. The widespread cancellations left thousands of passengers stranded during one of the busiest travel periods of the year, prompting the government to announce special relief measures.
The turmoil began after new aviation safety regulations—limiting pilot flying hours and tightening restrictions on night operations—came into force on November 1. IndiGo, which operates over 60% of India’s domestic flights, admitted it had failed to prepare adequately for the transition. The resulting pilot shortage has triggered sweeping operational breakdowns this week.
“These last few days we have had a serious operational crisis,” the airline said in a statement, apologising to passengers. “While this will not get resolved overnight, we assure you we will do everything in our capacity to help you.”
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Following an urgent request from IndiGo, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday granted the airline temporary exemptions from some of the new norms to stabilise operations. IndiGo earlier indicated it may take until February 10 to fully normalise flights but now expects “progressive improvement” starting Saturday.
Major airports bore the brunt of the cancellations: Delhi airport scrapped all IndiGo departures—about 235 flights—while Chennai followed suit. In Mumbai, 165 flights were cancelled, along with 102 in Bengaluru and 92 in Hyderabad.
Other airlines, including Air India and Akasa Air, have not reported cancellations linked to the new regulations.
