Indore (Madhya Pradesh): A massive nationwide shortage of IndiGo crew members—particularly pilots—threw flight operations into chaos at the Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport on Wednesday. As many as 18 IndiGo flights, both arrivals and departures, were cancelled through the day, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded and many in panic.
Several travellers also missed their connecting international flights, worsening the distress.
IndiGo, the country’s leading private airline that carries two out of every three domestic flyers, operates the highest number of flights from Indore. Wednesday’s disruptions therefore hit the largest chunk of passengers at the airport. Other airlines, however, operated normally.
Airport officials said that around 18 inbound and outbound IndiGo flights were cancelled, affecting major routes such as Jaipur, Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Chennai and Kolkata. IndiGo, in a statement, said the cancellations were part of a countrywide operational issue and that passengers had been offered refunds and rescheduling options. Yet, the lack of alternative flights left numerous passengers stranded at the airport for hours.
Shivanshu Malviya, one of the affected passengers, shared:
I arrived on time, only to be told that my flight would be cancelled due to operational issues. I had no choice but to purchase a much more expensive ticket on another airline," he said.
Several passengers echoed similar frustration, alleging the airline’s communication was too last-minute, even though messages were sent via SMS and email.
Cancelled flights
Incoming
6E6212- Delhi arriving at 7:05 hours.
6E5161-Mumbai arriving at 7:45 hours.
6E813-Goa arriving at 16:30 hours.
6E6576-Delhi arriving at 21:30 hours.
6E798-Kolkata arriving at 21:15 hours.
6E489-Chennai arriving at 21:40 hours.
6E7148-Jaipur arriving at 22:20 hours.
6E225-Mumbai arriving at 22:15 PM.
6E7187-Ahmedabad arriving at 21:40 hours.
Departing flights
6E7274-Jaipur departing at 6:55 hours.
6E6847-Delhi departing at 7:40 hours.
-6E6551-Mumbai departing at 8:15 hours.
6E6219-Goa departing at 12:20 hours.
6E6577-Delhi departing at 22:00 hours.
6E6566-Kolkata departing at 21:45 hours.
6E7273-Jaipur departing at 20:40 hours.
6E756-Chennai departing at 22:10 hours.
6E7168-Ahmedabad departing at 22:40 hours.
(As per the information received from DABH airport)
