IndiGo crisis: Mumbai-Delhi flight fare soars to Rs 51,000, Delhi-Mumbai at Rs 48,000

Riya Sharma, a 21-year-old student travelling from Mumbai to Delhi, is stranded. “I tried checking other airlines after my IndiGo flight was cancelled, but the fares from Mumbai to Delhi are impossible right now. Today’s only available seat was showing over Rs 50,000, and even for tomorrow, the starting price is around Rs 25,000. I can’t book any of that when my IndiGo refund hasn’t even come. My money is stuck, and the prices are too high. I have no way to travel.”

Amit Desai, travelling from Mumbai to Bengaluru, echoed the same frustration. “I checked every other airline after the cancellation, but there are no flights from Mumbai to Bengaluru for today or tomorrow, and the few seats on Saturday are starting near Rs 39,000. How do we rebook at those rates when our original ticket money is still with IndiGo? We’re just stranded here with no refunds, no options, and no clarity.”

Multiple passengers are also stranded at tourist destinations like Goa, resulting in a spike in air fares from such travel hotspots. While fares for Goa-Mumbai flights on Saturday start at Rs 20,669 and Goa-Delhi at Rs 35,946, tickets for Goa-Kolkata flights on Saturday start at Rs 42,582 per passenger.

The fares have been sourced from cleartrip.com between 2.30 pm and 2.50 pm.

104 flights cancelled at Mumbai

Services at Mumbai airport remained severely affected on Friday, with 104 flights cancelled, airport sources told The Indian Express. This includes 53 departures and 51 arrivals, marking the third straight day of large-scale disruptions for IndiGo.

The cancellations have risen sharply compared to earlier in the week. On Wednesday, IndiGo cancelled 55 flights in total, 29 arrivals and 26 departures due to mounting crew shortages and network-wide schedule strain. The situation worsened on Thursday, with airport officials estimating 100 to 118 cancellations through the day as the airline struggled to stabilise rotations under the revised Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms.

According to officials, the updated FDTL rules, which limit duty hours for pilots and cabin crew, have disrupted IndiGo’s rostering and created a shortage of deployable crew across key sectors. This has led to a cascading effect on aircraft schedules, particularly on high-density routes such as Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai.

IndiGo has apologised for the inconvenience and said it is offering full refunds or free rebooking for affected passengers. However, with rotations still uneven, officials expect delays and cancellations to continue through the day.

After Thursday’s cancellations, the airline briefed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) about its plan to fully restore flight operations, informing that it will reduce flights from December 8 and expects to fully restore stable flight operations by February 10, 2026.

On Friday, in a move that will come as a respite to the airline, the DGCA said, “In view of the ongoing operational disruptions and representations received from various airlines regarding the need to ensure continuity and stability of operations…the instruction contained in the referenced paragraph that no leave shall be substituted for weekly rest is hereby withdrawn with immediate effect.”