IndiGo crisis: 85 flights cancelled at MP airports

Bhopal, Dec 5 (PTI) Eighty-five IndiGo flights were cancelled on Friday at airports in Madhya Pradesh, leaving thousands of flyers in distress, officials said.

These include 49 movements, comprising 25 departures and 24 arrivals, at Indore's Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar, its director Sunil Maggirwar said. The airport is the busiest in the state.

Director Ramji Awasthi of Bhopal's Raja Bhoj airport said, "Of the 36 total movements at our airport, 28 were of IndiGo, of which 18 have been cancelled. These comprise nine incoming and nine outgoing." Jabalpur airport director Rajeev Ratan Pandey said 10 movements of the airline were cancelled from his airstrip. The facility is popularly known as Dumna airport.

Khajuraho airport director Santosh Singh told PTI that IndiGo had cancelled four movements from the facility.

A large number of foreign tourists visit Khajuraho to see its famous erotic sculptures and usually fly in from Delhi and Varanasi, he added.

Gwalior based Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia airport director Lokesh Yadav said four IndiGo movements were cancelled there.

Passenger Kanak Pahuja said she was flying to Delhi for a university meeting but learnt at the Indore airport that her flight had been cancelled.

"Everyone is irritated here. They are in a catch-22 situation. The refund process is going on. They are saying they might give a journey ticket tomorrow or the day after. I am getting my ticket cancelled as there is no option left," she rued.

Another air passenger, who gave his name as Justin, said he was to fly to Coimbatore.

"I was told that my flight was rescheduled. When I came to the Indore airport, I found out it had been cancelled," he complained.

Air travel across India remained in chaos for a fourth straight day on Friday as IndiGo, the country's largest airline, scrapped several hundred flights, leaving thousands of passengers stranded for several hours at a stretch with little clarity on alternatives.

The crisis was sparked after IndiGo, which controls about two-thirds of India's domestic traffic, failed to plan for new pilot flying-time regulations.

Meanwhile, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers on Friday said the airline expects to have less than 1,000 flight cancellations on Saturday and that the situation is anticipated to normalise between December 10-15. PTI LAL BNM