India’s aviation giant IndiGo cancelled more than 400 flights across the country on Saturday, 6 December 2025, despite obtaining temporary relaxations in the second phase of the court-mandated rules governing cockpit crew duty and rest times.
According to sources, the highest number of cancellations occurred at the airports in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad.
- Bengaluru: 124 flights (63 departures, 61 arrivals)
- Mumbai: 109 flights (51 departures, 58 arrivals)
- Delhi: 106 flights (54 departures, 52 arrivals)
Hyderabad: 66 flights
IndiGo had cancelled more than 1,000 flights the previous day, causing major disruption to air traffic across India. Due to the sudden surge in demand, ticket prices had sharply increased.
Fare Cap and Mandatory Refunds from the Government
Following the deepening crisis, the Ministry of Civil Aviation announced the introduction of a fare cap to curb the sudden spike in ticket prices.
Additionally, the government instructed IndiGo to complete all passenger refunds by 20:00 on 7 December 2025.
In response to growing public backlash, the government granted IndiGo a temporary exemption until 10 February 2026 regarding compliance with the new flight duty and rest time norms. The move was described as an effort to restore operational stability in the short term.
Delayed Apology from CEO Pieter Elbers
After three days of intense turmoil, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers broke his silence and released a video message. Elbers apologised for the inconvenience caused to passengers due to the widespread cancellations and stated that the airline was working to restore normal operations.
