The company attributed the disruption to ”unexpected operational challenges,” including technical glitches, adverse weather conditions, and new rules for workers.
What you should know
Indian airports have been thrown into chaos after India's largest airline, IndiGo, canceled more than 1,200 flights across the country in the past few days. Thousands of passengers have been stranded due to the large number of flight cancellations.
The company said the disruption was caused by “unforeseen operational challenges” including technical glitches, adverse weather conditions and new rules for workers.
India’s aviation watchdog has ordered an investigation and has asked IndiGo to respond with a plan to reduce the disruptions that have been ongoing since Monday.
Thousands of passengers and their relatives took to social media on Thursday to vent their anger, saying that “no staff” had come to help despite the eight-hour delay and that the airport was in “complete chaos.”
The company said 1,232 IndiGo flights had been cancelled as of Wednesday. It did not give a figure for how many flights were delayed.
IndiGo said it was providing alternative travel arrangements and refunds to its customers.
The company said the disruptions to its flight schedule were “significantly” partly due to new crew rostering rules, along with other technical factors.
The rule, which aims to give more comfort to pilots and crew to improve passenger safety, was introduced last month. The disruption is another blow to the no-frills carrier, which has built its reputation on punctuality.
Last week, 200 IndiGo aircraft were affected after Airbus issued an alert for immediate upgrades to 6,000 aircraft worldwide. India, which carries about half a million passengers a day, is one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets.
