IndiGo cuts int'l flights due to airspace restrictions, airport congestion

IndiGo has reduced long-haul international flights operated by Boeing 787-9 aircraft as longer routings, airspace restrictions and congestion disrupt schedules

IndiGo on Wednesday said it was reducing its long-haul wide-body network operated by Boeing 787-9 aircraft due to shifting airspace restrictions and airport congestion in India and overseas. 

“With the objective of avoiding inconvenience to customers due to misconnections and cascading delays, IndiGo has decided to take some immediate measures to restore operational reliability in terms of on-time performance for its wide-body operation,” the airline stated. 

IndiGo said the changes are needed because flights are taking longer to operate than earlier, increasing pressure on its schedules. 

The airline explained that block time — the total time from when an aircraft leaves the gate at the departure airport to when it reaches the gate at the destination — has increased due to airspace restrictions linked to geopolitical developments and congestion at major airports in India and abroad. These longer flight times have affected how efficiently IndiGo can use its six Boeing 787-9 aircraft. 

 

As part of the revision, IndiGo will suspend flights on the Delhi-Copenhagen route from February 17 until further notice. 

IndiGo is also reducing frequencies on its Delhi-Manchester service in a phased manner. From February 7, the route will see a reduction from five flights a week to four, followed by a further cut to three weekly services from February 19. Overall, the airline’s Manchester connectivity will come down from nine weekly flights to seven, with changes in operating days aimed at building recovery time into the schedule. 

In addition, flights on the Delhi-London Heathrow route will be reduced from five to four services a week starting February 9 for the ongoing winter schedule, which finishes at March-end. 

Indian carriers have been impacted by multiple airspace restrictions. Pakistan’s ban on Indian airlines using its airspace, imposed in April last year, continues to remain in effect, forcing longer routings on Europe and West Asia flights. In addition, heightened tensions between the US and Iran led to restrictions and avoidance of Iranian airspace during January-February this year. 

IndiGo said it is proactively reaching out to customers impacted by the changes to offer alternative flight options or provide timely refunds and compensation in line with applicable rules. 

IndiGo added that it will continue to closely monitor operational conditions and may scale its long-haul network up or down depending on how constraints evolve over time. 

These cuts in international flights have come after the cuts in domestic flights that were done in December following operations meltdown. 

IndiGo cancelled 4,290 flights between December 1 and 9 after it fell short of pilots to implement the new flight duty time limitation (FDTL) rules, which introduced more humane working hours for crew and came into effect in November. 

On December 9, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered IndiGo to cut 10 per cent domestic flights from its schedule for the entire winter season, which ends late March.

 

Turbulent ops

• Changes needed because flights are taking longer to operate than earlier, increasing pressure on schedules
• Block time has increased due to airspace restrictions linked to geopolitical developments
• IndiGo will suspend flights on the Delhi-Copenhagen route from February 17
• Frequencies on the Delhi-Manchester service will also be reduced in a phased manner
• Flights on the Delhi-London Heathrow route will be reduced from five to four services a week starting February 9