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IndiGo, India’s largest airline, is facing one of its worst operational crises with mass flight cancellations and severe delays across major airports, leading to widespread passenger disruption and regulatory scrutiny. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Ministry of Civil Aviation have sought explanations and asked the carrier to fast-track refunds, which have reportedly crossed ₹600 crore, even as InterGlobe Aviation’s stock has come under pressure. IndiGo has set up a crisis management group and launched a reboot of crew and aircraft scheduling, with the management expressing confidence that operations will stabilise around December 10 and flight numbers are already moving back towards normal levels. IndiGo Airlines commenced operations on 4 August 2006 with a service from New Delhi to Imphal via Guwahati. In December 2010, IndiGo replaced state-run carrier Air India as the third-largest airline in India, behind Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways with a passenger market share of 17.3%. The airline became the largest Indian carrier in passenger market share in 2012. In 2011, IndiGo placed an order for 180 Airbus A320 aircraft in a deal worth $15 billion. The same year, the airline got the permission to launch international flights. On 17 August 2012, IndiGo became the largest airline in India in terms of market share, surpassing Jet Airways. In January 2013, IndiGo became the second-fastest-growing low-cost carrier in Asia, next only to Indonesian airline Lion Air. In August 2015, IndiGo placed an order of 250 Airbus A320neo aircraft worth $27 billion, the largest single order ever for Airbus. IndiGo announced a $460-million initial public offering (IPO) on 19 October 2015, which opened on 27 October 2015.
An official said 48 arrivals and 49 departures were cancelled at the airport
The airline said reduced visibility in the early hours could affect flight operations, leading to delays or schedule changes
Updated On: Dec 21 2025 | 6:28 AM ISTBefore the crisis, the airline operated a total of 2,300 flights per day - about 2,000 domestic and about 300 international
Updated On: Dec 18 2025 | 11:42 PM ISTFrom aviation to finance, regulatory failures marked India's economy in 2025, exposing weak state capacity and the urgent need to redesign how regulators function
Updated On: Dec 18 2025 | 10:06 PM ISTIndiGo has already been allowed to operate five narrow body planes leased from Turkey till March 2026 and no further extension will be given, according to aviation regulator DGCA. The watchdog on Monday provided a clarification about the lease duration for aircraft taken by IndiGo from Turkey amid speculations that the airline has been given more time to use such leased planes. "IndiGo has been permitted to operate aircraft on wet lease from Turkey with a last extension valid till March 2026 with a sunset clause that no further extension will be given. "This is based on the undertaking submitted by Indigo airlines in the instant case wherein they have sought last time extension, since their long range aircraft (A321-XLR) are to be delivered by February 2026," a senior DGCA official said. The lease of five Boeing 737 planes taken from Turkey's Corendon Airlines ends on March 31, 2026, as per the regulator. Currently, IndiGo operates 15 foreign aircraft on wet/damp lease basis, ...
Authorities will take elaborate and corrective actions after studying the probe panel report into the recent massive flight disruptions at IndiGo, a senior official said on Friday. The four-member panel constituted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is expected to finalise its report soon. In the wake of the flight disruptions earlier this month, the DGCA has cut IndiGo's winter schedule by 10 per cent. IndiGo, the country's largest airline, used to operate 2,300 flights daily. The senior government official said elaborate and corrective actions will be taken after studying the panel's report. "We will continuously work on it," the official said, emphasising that efforts are underway to ensure such disruptions do not happen again. To a query on whether the schedule adherence of other airlines is also being monitored, the official replied in the affirmative. This is travel season, and also coinciding with the fog season, and airlines should be operating more flig
The Delhi High Court on Friday sought a response from the Customs department on a plea by InterGlobe Aviation, which operates the IndiGo airline, seeking a refund of more than Rs 900 crore paid as Customs duty on aircraft engines and parts re-imported into India after overseas repairs. A bench of Justices V Kameswar Rao and Vinod Kumar issued the notice to the deputy commissioner (refund), office of the principal commissioner of Customs, Air Cargo Complex (Import), and asked the authorities to file a counter affidavit within two weeks. The court listed the matter for next hearing on April 8, 2026. InterGlobe, in its plea, contended that the levy of Customs duty on such re-imports was unconstitutional and amounted to double levy on the same transaction. The counsel for the Customs opposed the plea, claiming it is pre-mature and that the issue based on which the present claim has been filed is pending before the Supreme Court. The counsel said the Supreme Court has not passed any st
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a PIL seeking to direct the Centre and Indigo airline to pay four times the compensation of the full ticket price to all passengers whose tickets were cancelled during November and December after the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rollout. A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said it has already taken cognisance of the issue in another public interest litigation (PIL) and granted liberty to the petitioner to seek intervention in the pending petition. "We don't see any reason as to why the concerns raised here cannot be taken up in the earlier petition. The jurisprudence developed by the Supreme Court and high courts around PILs permits the court to expand the scope of a petition in public interest. "We decline to entertain this petition with liberty to the petitioner to seek intervention in the pending petition. The writ petition stands disposed of," the bench said while dictati
A PIL has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking to direct the Centre and Indigo airline to pay four times the compensation of the full ticket price to all passengers whose tickets were cancelled during November and December after the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rollout. The public interest litigation, which will come up for hearing on Wednesday before a bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, also sought an enquiry by a retired judge or Lokpal to identify the negligence and lapses of the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in precipitating the crisis. The petition further sought to direct the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Department of Consumer Affairs to initiate a "class action suit" according to the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act against Indigo for the suffering and damages caused to the passengers due to the crisis in the last couple of months. According to the petitioner, Centre for Accountability and
The four-member panel, set up by Director General of Civil Aviation Faiz Ahmed Kidwai to investigate large-scale operational disruptions at domestic carrier IndiGo earlier this month, visited the airline's headquarters on Monday as part of the ongoing probe, sources said. During the visit, they said, the panel members checked multiple aspects of the operations that could have resulted in the disruptions. "The panel members visited IndiGo headquarters on Monday. They remained there throughout the day to take the ongoing probe ahead," a source privy to information told PTI. During the visit, said another source, the probe panel checked multiple aspects of operations, including infrastructure that could have resulted in such a large-scale disruption of services. The four-member panel, comprising Joint DG Sanjay Brahamane, Deputy Director General Amit Gupta, senior Flight Operations Inspector Kapil Manglik, and FOI Lokesh Rampal, has been tasked with identifying the root causes of ...
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a PIL seeking judicial intervention into the issue of cancellation of hundreds of flights by IndiGo, and asked the petitioner to move the Delhi High Court with the grievances. The Delhi High Court, on December 10, questioned the central government for not taking timely action to check the crisis caused by IndiGo flight cancellations and asked why the situation was allowed to precipitate, with lakhs of passengers stranded and other airlines charging hefty fares. It was hearing a PIL seeking directions to the Centre to provide support and refunds to passengers affected by the cancellation of hundreds of flights by IndiGo. On Monday, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pamcholi took note of the submissions of petitioner Narendra Mishra that the plea needed a hearing at the top court and said the high court is already seized of another similar PIL. The bench asked Mishra to approach the hi