Indigo: India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation announced on Saturday that all airlines must strictly follow prescribed fare caps to prevent any form of opportunistic pricing. The ministry stated that these price limits will remain in effect until the country’s air travel situation stabilises completely.
The directive comes after widespread disruptions in India’s air travel this week, following thousands of flight cancellations by IndiGo. In response, the government rolled out special relief measures for the airline and arranged additional train services to help passengers affected by the backlog.
The IndiGo Fiasco: Background Of What Went Wrong This Week
India’s aviation sector has faced massive disruption this week after IndiGo cancelled thousands of flights, triggering chaos across airports and leaving passengers stranded nationwide. The government was forced to step in with relief assistance for the airline, while additional trains were deployed to ease the pile-up of travellers looking for alternatives.
Days of Cancellations
For nearly five consecutive days, IndiGo, India’s largest carrier, scrapped several hundred flights daily, largely due to crew shortages. With fewer flights operating, ticket prices on multiple routes shot up dramatically.
On Friday alone, the airline cancelled over 1,000 services, prompting CEO Pieter Elbers to issue a video apology for the inconvenience caused. In the message, he said the airline expected to operate fewer than 1,000 flights the following day. Despite that assurance, disruptions continued to be reported across several airports on Saturday as well.
Airfares Skyrocket
The shortage of flights resulted in an unprecedented surge in ticket prices. According to airline websites, a one-way, one-stop SpiceJet flight from Kolkata to Mumbai for December 6 cost around ₹90,000, while an Air India ticket from Mumbai to Bhubaneswar climbed close to ₹84,500.
Industry sources told PTI that last-minute fares normally rise two to three times the usual prices, but in this case, spikes reached as high as six times the average, something rarely seen in the domestic market.
Regulators Step In
Amid the turmoil, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) granted temporary concessions to IndiGo. These included:
-rolling back the definition of night duty from 12am–6am to 12am–5am
-allowing up to six night landings instead of two
-and other operational relaxations
The Ministry of Civil Aviation later confirmed it would temporarily pause the implementation of the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms after meeting with pilot bodies, including ALPA India.
IndiGo was among the first airlines to challenge the new rules introduced in January 2024. While the first stage of FDTL changes came into effect in July, the second stage, which cut night landings from six to two, was rolled out on November 1.
(Via Agency Inputs)
