IndiGo cancels all departures at Delhi airport on Friday, over 500 flights affected

IndiGo airline announced that it is cancelling all departures from Delhi Airport on December 5 till midnight amid massive disruption in flight operations over the last few days. The airlines also requested exemptions from specific Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) provisions up to February 10, India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said on Friday (Dec 5). This comes as hundreds of flights continue to be delayed and cancelled at airports across the country, triggering outrage from passengers.

The Delhi Airport, in an advisory, said that “IndiGo domestic flights departing from Delhi Airport on 5th December 2025 are cancelled till midnight today (till 23:59 hours).” At least 225 arrivals and departures were cancelled at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Friday.

In an earlier advisory, the airport stated that “operational challenges affecting one domestic carrier are resulting in flight delays and cancellations.” It further urged passengers to check their flight status with airlines before leaving for the airport. “Our dedicated on-ground teams are working diligently with all partners to mitigate the disruption and ensure a comfortable passenger experience,” the advisory added.

Meanwhile, 52 arrivals and 50 departures of IndiGo were cancelled at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport. A total of 104 flights were cancelled at Mumbai airport. IndiGo flights were also disrupted at Pune, Goa, Ahmedabad, and Kerala airports.

“To reduce passenger inconvenience while maintaining safety margins, IndiGo has requested operational variations/exemptions from specific FDTL provisions for A320 operations up to 10th February 2026. IndiGo has assured DGCA that corrective actions are underway and that normalised and stable operations will be fully restored by 10 February 2026,” the DGCA said as quoted by news agency ANI.

Hundreds of passengers claimed that they were left stranded at the airports for hours with no information being provided by IndiGo about their flight status.

A passenger said, as quoted by ANI, “We have arrived at the Goa airport just now. Our connecting flight was to Lakshadweep but we couldn’t take it due to the late arrival. This has all been caused by IndiGo... We didn’t get any cooperation from them...The last night I was at Delhi airport, they would not inform anyone of anything. It is a chaos that they have created…”

“I had an IndiGo flight from Ahmedabad to Varanasi scheduled yesterday... After numerous delays we cancelled our flight but we did not get back our luggage on time. We are stranded here for almost 10-12 hours now, and we have received neither water nor food. It is a chaotic situation here. Taking another flight also doesn’t seem very possible, other airlines have increased their airfare...The fare on other airlines has doubled-tripled,” said another passenger.