Delhi Airport says flight operations ‘steadily resuming’, some IndiGo services still hit

New Delhi: Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Saturday said flight operations are “steadily resuming and getting back to normalcy” after days of disruption caused mainly by mass IndiGo cancellations.

In a passenger advisory issued around 10:15 am and posted on X, the airport said some IndiGo services “continue to be affected” and urged travellers to check the latest flight status with the airline before leaving for the airport to avoid inconvenience.

The advisory added that airport teams are coordinating with “all stakeholders” to minimise disruption and ensure a smooth travel experience for passengers.

Passenger Advisory issued at 10:15 Hours#DelhiAirport#PassengerAdvisory#DELAdvisorypic.twitter.com/jSLOf0Aifl

— Delhi Airport (@DelhiAirport) December 6, 2025

The reassurance comes after four days of severe disruption across the country. IndiGo has cancelled more than 1,000 flights this week, including all departures from Delhi on Friday, triggering long queues, protests and scenes of chaos at several major airports.

The airline has blamed the meltdown on a shortage of pilots after it failed to plan properly for stricter flight duty and rest rules that took effect on November 1, just as the peak winter travel season began.

In an interview with Reuters on Friday, IndiGo Chief Executive Pieter Elbers apologised to customers and admitted the crisis had shaken passengers’ faith in the carrier’s reliability. He said it would take until about December 10–15 for operations to return to a “full, normal situation”, though the airline expects “progressive improvement” from this weekend.

To help clear the backlog, the civil aviation regulator has temporarily relaxed two of the new night-time pilot duty restrictions for IndiGo alone, while keeping in place higher mandatory weekly rest hours. The exemption is valid until February 10 and is meant to give the airline more flexibility in rostering its crews in the short term.

IndiGo has said it will offer full fee waivers on cancellations and booking changes for travel between December 5 and 15 and has arranged hotel rooms and ground transport for stranded passengers in some cases.

Saturday’s advisory from Delhi Airport signals that the worst of the disruption may be easing, but with IndiGo still cancelling and rescheduling flights, passengers have been advised to rely on real-time updates from the airline before heading to the airport.