IndiGo cancels 42 flights at Pune airport, operates 14 services amid disruptions

Pune, Dec 5 (PTI) IndiGo operated seven arrival flights and as many departure ones, but cancelled 42 outbound and inbound services at the Pune airport between midnight and 5 pm on Friday, an airport spokesperson said.

Flight operations at the airport have largely returned to normal, with disruptions now limited to only IndiGo services, he said.

Between Thursday midnight and 5 pm, the airport handled 31 arrivals and 31 departures, facilitating 5,122 arriving and 4,805 departing travellers. All scheduled flights of Air India (4), SpiceJet (3), AIX (9), Akasa Air (4), Star Air (2) and Fly91 (2) operated as planned, the spokesperson said.

IndiGo, whose services have been at the centre of massive nationwide disruptions, operated seven arrivals and as many departures during the period. However, the leading private airline cancelled 21 arrivals and as many departure flights (total 42), he said, adding no other carrier reported any disruption.

Airport operations teams, airlines, ground handling staff, security personnel and terminal management remained fully deployed to ensure smooth passenger movement and timely aircraft turnaround, the official said.

Apron utilisation was also monitored continuously to optimise stand allocation and avoid any cascading impact, he maintained.

The airport said it continues to work closely with all stakeholders to maintain service standards and support IndiGo in stabilising its schedule as overall operations return to normal.

Earlier in the day, airport officials said a Nagpur-Pune flight of IndiGo was diverted to Hyderabad due to Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL).

The airport, located within an Indian Air Force base, said it is closely coordinating with airlines, ground handling agencies, Air Traffic Control, CISF and terminal service partners to manage congestion and assist passengers.

Airport authorities expressed gratitude to travellers for their patience during the disruptions.

In a statement, IndiGo said Friday should be the day with highest number of cancellations.

"Today should be the day with highest number of cancellations, as we are doing all that is necessary to reboot all our systems and schedules for progressive improvement starting tomorrow (Saturday)," it said in a post on X.

"Short-term proactive cancellations are being made to ease operations, decongest the airports to prepare for starting stronger tomorrow," the airline added.

Hundreds of IndiGo flights have been cancelled or delayed, leaving passengers stranded at airports as the flight disruptions continued for the fourth day on Friday.

Deeply apologising for the disruptions, the airline said the situation will not get resolved overnight. PTI SPK BNM RSY