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IndiGo cancels 20 flights at Ahmedabad airport today; Railways sets up help desk to assist stranded passengers
The help desk at the Ahmedabad airport offers options for refunds and railway bookings after the nationwide disruption to IndiGo flights.
To assist stranded passengers at the airport due to the cancellation of IndiGo flights, an IRCTC help desk has been set up. (Express Photo)
As the nationwide disruption to IndiGo flights continued Sunday, 20 flights were cancelled by 10 am at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, including 12 arrivals and eight departures, according to airport sources. They said the airline operated 39 flights by 10 am: 17 arrivals and 22 departures.
On Saturday, 72 IndiGo flights were cancelled at the Ahmedabad airport: 34 arrivals and 38 departures. The airline operated 112 flights; 58 arrivals and 54 departures.
Meanwhile, to assist stranded passengers at the airport due to the cancellation of IndiGo flights, an IRCTC help desk has been set up.
A source at the Ahmedabad airport said, “The Ministry of Railways and IRCTC have set up the help desk. They approached us to set up a help desk to address the chaos, so we have provided them with space outside the terminal. For stranded passengers, the government is operating special trains to various destinations. So, the passengers can take a refund and book the railway ticket from there and then only. They can also do inquiries. Both options are there.”
“Also, there are many passengers who have stayed near the airport after the cancellation of their flight. For such passengers staying within a 5-6 km radius of the airport, it is easier to approach this desk to make inquiries and book railway tickets. So, to facilitate the stranded passengers, the government has implemented this arrangement,” the source added.
For five consecutive days, IndiGo has experienced significant flight disruptions, with hundreds of cancellations and delays, causing hardship for thousands of passengers.
The primary reason for this disruption is crew shortages in the wake of the new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) rules, which IndiGo did not properly plan for.
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The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the aviation watchdog, Saturday issued a showcause notice to IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers seeking an explanation for the massive flight disruptions, according to sources.
In the notice, the regulator said the large-scale operational failures indicate significant lapses in planning, oversight and resource management, the sources said.
The significant disruption at IndiGo, India’s largest airline with more than 60 per cent of the domestic market share, has caused widespread chaos in commercial flight operations across the country. As a result, thousands of passengers were left stranded, leading to chaos at major airports across the country.
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