IndiGo passengers faced a third day of disruption on Thursday as the airline cancelled hundreds of flights, struggling to adjust its schedules under new government regulations.
By early Thursday, at least 175 flights were cancelled, leaving travellers frustrated at airports in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune and Bengaluru. The previous day saw at least 150 cancellations. Shares in IndiGo, which controls 60% of India’s aviation market and is known for punctuality, fell 3.4% on Thursday and are down 6% for the week.
The Federation of Indian Pilots said the airline failed to adapt its roster in time to meet the new rules, which increased mandatory rest periods and limited night flying. These regulations, announced last year, came into force on November 1. IndiGo has acknowledged that tighter flight duty limits contributed to the cancellations. Other airlines, including Air India, SpiceJet and Akasa Air, were not affected.
Bengaluru airport saw 73 flights cancelled, while Delhi had around 30 and Hyderabad 68, according to airport sources.
Passengers reported long delays and poor facilities. Ram Shankar Yadav, travelling with family to a wedding, said his flight was delayed six hours.
«We don’t have enough chairs. People are taking newspapers to sit on the floor,» he said. «People are angry. There’s nobody to manage; their helplines are not working.»
Kursiv also reports that Airbus has ordered immediate repairs to 6,000 jets from its A320 family on November 29.
