On December 4, 2025, in New Delhi, India, passengers were seen experiencing heavy congestion and confusion at IndiGo counters at Indira Gandhi International Airport Terminal 1 after a technical glitch with IndiGo caused multiple flight delays and cancellations.
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shares of interglobe aviationThe company, which operates India’s largest airline Indigo, fell more than 8% on Monday as the airline grappled with multiple flight cancellations.
IndiGo, which operates over 2,300 flights a day, could only operate 706 flights on Friday due to major disruptions caused by changes in rules regarding pilots’ rest periods.
The airline said in a release Sunday that it was operating 1,650 flights and expected “the network to stabilize” by Wednesday.
India’s Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said on Monday that the government has ordered an investigation into the disruption of IndiGo Airlines flights.
“We will take strict action,” the minister said, warning airlines of the consequences of “non-compliance”.
Passenger concerns
Chirag Shah, an EY consultant who was traveling with his family from Abu Dhabi to Mumbai, faced an 11-hour delay.
He said travelers, especially those on first-entry visas, were stranded.
Shah told CNBC that the 11-hour delay was an “alarming lack of support for passengers,” adding that “after several hours of follow-up with airport authorities,” several passengers were reseated on other IndiGo flights.
IndiGo was instructed by the government to issue refunds by 8pm Indian time on Sunday, but did not say whether it had issued all refunds for flights that were canceled or significantly delayed. IndiGo had processed 6.1 billion rupees (US$67.6 million) as of 5pm on the same day.
Mr Shah said the only conciliatory offer he had was a free meal voucher at McDonald’s.
Indigo Airlines and the Ministry of Civil Aviation had not responded to requests for comment from CNBC at the time of publication.
rule change
On Thursday, the airline told the ministry that the cancellations were due to “challenges in crew planning and implementation of Revised Flight Time Limits (FDTL) standards.”
The rules, announced in January 2024 and taking effect from November 1, will reduce the number of late-night flights for pilots and extend crew rest periods from 36 to 48 hours.
On Friday, when disruptions due to IndiGo flight cancellations peaked, the government suspended the imposition of flight time limit rules.
IndiGo CEO Peter Elbers has been ordered by India’s aviation watchdog to explain the disruption and has been granted an extension to submit a response, local media reported.
According to the International Air Transport Association, India will operate 1.3 million scheduled flights in 2024, of which 1.1 million will be domestic.
IndiGo dominates Indian air transport in terms of scheduled seats, with a market share of about 53.4%, up from 23% in 2016.
