IndiGo cancelled more than 1,000 flights on Friday (December 5, 2025) and will axe hundreds more on Saturday (December 6, 2025), crippling air travel across India and sending airfares skyrocketing, which prompted the government to exempt the country’s largest airline from meeting new rules until February 10.
The airline suspended all departures from the Delhi airport for the entire day to reboot its systems and stop cascading delays. It cancelled all its domestic flights from Chennai airport and all flights from Bengaluru to Delhi and Mumbai for the entire day.
IndiGo cancels several flights from city airport, leaving many passengers stranded
“Cancellations were made today to align our aircraft and crew to be where they need to be to start tomorrow morning afresh. Measures of the last few days have regrettably proven to be not enough. We have decided today for a reboot of all our systems and schedules,” IndiGo’s chief executive officer (CEO) Pieter Elbers said in a recorded video message. He added that cancellations on Saturday (December 5, 2025) were expected to be “below 1,000”.
The size and scale of IndiGo’s operations meant normalcy is expected only between December 10 and 15, according to the CEO. The airline operates a total of 2,200 flights every day and accounts for six out of every 10 passengers who travel by air.
