IndiGo cancels 67 flights across airports amid fog, operational issues
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Mumbai: Domestic carrier IndiGo on Thursday cancelled 67 flights from multiple airports due to forecasted bad weather and operational reasons, according to the airline’s website.
Of the 67 cancellations, only four were due to operational issues, while the remaining were caused by forecasted adverse weather at airports including Agartala, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Varanasi, and Bengaluru.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has designated the period between December 10 and February 10 as the official “fog window” this winter. Under DGCA fog operations (CAT-IIIB) norms, airlines are required to roster pilots trained for low-visibility operations and deploy a CAT-IIIB-compliant aircraft fleet.
Category-III is an advanced navigation system that allows aircraft to land safely under foggy conditions. While Category-III-A enables landing with a runway visual range (RVR) of 200 metres, Category-III-B allows aircraft to land with an RVR below 50 metres.
IndiGo, whose operations are under DGCA monitoring after mass cancellations earlier this month, is operating a curtailed schedule in compliance with government directives. Under its original winter schedule, the airline was permitted to operate 15,014 domestic flights per week—around 2,144 flights per day, roughly six per cent higher than the 14,158 weekly flights it operated during the 2025 summer schedule.
However, following massive disruptions caused by the implementation of new pilot rest norms, which allow for longer rest periods, the government cut the airline’s domestic schedule by 10 per cent, or 214 flights per day. As a result, IndiGo currently cannot operate more than 1,930 domestic flights daily.
Earlier, between December 1 and December 9, the Rahul Bhatia-controlled airline cancelled thousands of flights due to crew shortages and inadequate planning to comply with new regulations on pilots’ duty periods and rest, causing severe hardship to lakhs of travellers.
In response, the DGCA formed a four-member panel comprising Joint DG Sanjay Brahamane, Deputy Director General Amit Gupta, senior Flight Operations Inspector Kapil Manglik, and FOI Lokesh Rampal. The panel has already questioned IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and Chief Operating Officer Isidre Porqueras as part of its probe and is expected to submit a report by the end of this week.
Meanwhile, in a travel advisory posted on X, IndiGo said, “Low visibility and fog over Bangalore has impacted flight schedules. We are keeping a close watch on the weather and doing our best to ensure you reach your destination safely and smoothly.”
Reacting to the advisory, an aggrieved passenger posted on X: “My flight on December 20 from Bhubaneswar to Ahmedabad got delayed for more than five hours, and today my return flight from Ahmedabad to Bhubaneswar was delayed more than three hours with the same excuse of bad weather. I am travelling with my senior citizen parents, and this delay is not acceptable. Need proper explanation, along with compensation.”
With PTI inputs