- IndiGo cancelled over 550 flights due to revised crew and flight duty rules
- Thousands of passengers faced long waits, lost bookings, and baggage delays
- Flight cancellations caused a sharp drop in available domestic seats nationwide
December 2025 was shaping up as a routine travel period for many domestic flyers in India. But instead of smooth boarding, thousands were met with cancelled flights, long hours of uncertainty at airports, and frantic last-minute searches for alternate flights. What began as a disruption at one of the largest budget carriers quickly morphed into a nationwide fare-hike fiasco: with no seats available on many flights, those desperate to travel found themselves shelling out exorbitant amounts, sometimes many times the usual fare. Reports from across major and regional airports began to emerge, pointing to a steep surge in ticket prices as demand far outstripped supply.
Massive Cancellations By IndiGo Trigger Supply Crunch
IndiGo cancelled over 550 flights nationwide on a single day following the enforcement of revised crew-duty and flight-duty time rules. This large-scale cancellation had consequences across all major airports in India, including metros such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and beyond.
As a result, many travellers were left stranded: with hundreds of flights off the books, people reported long queues at check-in counters, congested waiting areas, lost or delayed baggage, and confusion over rebookings. Bookings that were confirmed a few hours earlier suddenly vanished; some passengers received no timely updates. The massive cancellations effectively created a sudden, sharp drop in available seats on domestic routes, especially on high-traffic and flight-dense corridors.
Also Read: Are IndiGo Flights Still Being Cancelled? Here's What You Should Know Before Planning Your Travel
Demand Surge For Alternate Flights: Prices Soar
As travellers scrambled to salvage plans, many tried booking on alternate carriers. This spike in demand for a limited number of last-minute seats triggered fare increases across multiple airlines. In some corridors, fares reportedly "skyrocketed." On certain days, what would normally be a moderate price climbed to levels that many described as exorbitant. This sudden surge did not just hit a few travellers; the problem spread across the system, affecting many who were trying to travel under tight deadlines or were dependent on last-minute tickets.
Also Read: IndiGo Flight Cancelled? How To Get Full Refund Amid The Ongoing Chaos
Singer Rahul Vaidya had to shell out Rs 4.2 lakh for last-minute Air India tickets for himself and those travelling with him from Goa to Mumbai. His initial flight (booked with IndiGo) was disrupted, forcing a rebooking under emergency conditions.
Actress Nia Sharma was also among those impacted by the disruption. She took to Instagram to reveal that she paid Rs 54K for her domestic Air India flight ticket.
Photo Credit: Instagram/ Nia Sharma
These high-cost, last-minute bookings underscore the severity of the supply-demand mismatch. Even those with means faced significant difficulty, not to mention ordinary travellers trying to reach their destinations for holidays, work commitments, family events or emergencies.
Videos circulating on social media show passengers scrambling for seats across airlines: some waiting for hours at airports, others forced to travel on inconvenient alternate routes or at uncomfortable timings. For many travellers, what should have been a routine domestic trip turned into a financial and logistical nightmare.
