MUMBAI, Dec 8: More than 250 IndiGo flights were cancelled from Delhi and Bengaluru airports on Monday as disruptions in the crisis-hit airline’s operations entered the seventh day, sources said.
In a related development, aviation safety regulator DGCA extended the deadline for IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and COO and Accountable Manager Isidro Porqueras to respond to its show-cause notice until Monday 6 p.m. The order was issued late Sunday evening (December 7, 2025), after the regulator had originally sought their replies within 24 hours of issuing notices on Saturday (December 6, 2025).
According to sources, IndiGo cancelled 251 flights from the two airports on Monday (December 8, 2025). At Delhi airport, 134 flights were cancelled — 75 departures and 59 arrivals — while at Bengaluru airport, the airline cancelled 117 services, comprising 65 arrivals and 62 departures.
IndiGo has drawn criticism from both the government and passengers for cancelling hundreds of flights since December 2, 2025, attributing the disruption to regulatory changes in pilots’ new flight duty and rest norms. The cancellations have left lakhs of passengers stranded across airports nationwide.
For the first three days, the airline — partially owned by Rahul Bhatia — did not acknowledge the scale of disruptions. It was only on Friday (December 5, 2025), after cancelling a record 1,600 flights in a single day, that CEO Elbers issued a video message apologising for the inconvenience caused. Although he admitted widespread cancellations, he did not specify that 1,600 flights had been grounded that day.
The new FDTL norms, effective for all domestic carriers in two phases — July 1 and November 1 this year — mandate increased weekly rest periods, extended night hours, and fewer night landings. IndiGo has secured temporary relaxations in the second-phase norms until February 10.
Domestic airlines, including IndiGo and Air India, initially opposed the updated norms citing additional crew requirements, but the DGCA implemented them after directives from the Delhi High Court, with phased rollout and certain airline-specific variations. The norms were originally scheduled for implementation in March 2024. (Agencies)
