Chaos at Pune, Nagpur airports as IndiGo delays, cancellations hit hundreds

At Pune Airport, multiple morning flights to Bengaluru, Delhi, Kochi and Agartala were delayed for hours and later cancelled without clear updates

Pune: Neha Mulay, booked on a 5.55am Pune–Bengaluru IndiGo flight, waited nearly four hours before it was abruptly cancelled, causing her to miss two connecting flights to Kochi. Mulay was not alone — hundreds of IndiGo passengers across Pune, Nagpur and connecting routes faced severe disruption on Tuesday.

Passengers accused IndiGo of failing to issue timely SMS alerts or announcements. (Representative photo)

At Pune Airport, multiple morning flights to Bengaluru, Delhi, Kochi and Agartala were delayed for hours and later cancelled without clear updates. Flyers described the situation as “total chaos”, with many missing onward journeys, waiting inside aircraft for hours, and receiving contradictory information from ground staff.

Sharing a similar experience, another passenger, Raviraj Kajave, said, “We were boarded for flight 6E6564 and kept inside till 9.30am. Then they cancelled it. Not even refreshments were provided.”

Passengers accused IndiGo of failing to issue timely SMS alerts or announcements. “The bare minimum is to inform passengers when a flight is cancelled. No updates, no message — just chaos,” Vishal, another affected traveller, said.

Passengers booked on a Pune–Delhi flight recalled confusion after an announcement by ground staff that the flight was cancelled, only for the airline to later mark it as ‘delayed’. “I waited five hours, staff told me it was cancelled and processed a refund, but my phone showed the flight was still delayed. This has been happening for two days,” traveller Alifiya Khan said.

“There was zero communication. After hours of waiting, the flight was cancelled at 10am. The airport was in chaos,” Jatin Batra, a Pune–Delhi–Gwalior passenger, said.

Nagpur Airport also saw major disruption. Passengers scheduled to fly to Pune said they were repeatedly boarded, deboarded and made to wait in coaches, allegedly due to the non-availability of pilots.

“Disabled seniors in wheelchairs and infants were stranded in the coach. No one could explain what was happening,” a distressed passenger said, adding that the pilot reportedly refused to operate the onward Pune flight after arriving from Kolkata.

Another flyer, Samarth Awasthi, said his Nagpur–Pune flight began boarding after a delay, only for all passengers to be taken back to the gate. “They said the pilot had flying hour issues,” Awasthi said.

Dipayan B found out that his Pune–Agartala flight was cancelled only after reaching the airport. “Customer care wasn’t answering and the helpdesk queue was long,” he recalled.

Travellers said many were flying for medical appointments, job interviews, school exams and other essential commitments.

“Passengers had urgent work — schools, offices, treatments, interviews. There was no help,” Shrinivas Chiparikar, whose Nagpur–Pune flight was cancelled, said.

With complaints escalating, the disruptions have drawn the attention of the Civil Aviation Ministry and the DGCA.

In a statement issued Tuesday, IndiGo said, “We have had several unavoidable flight delays and some cancellations in the past few days due to various reasons including technology issues, airport congestion and operational requirements. Our teams are working diligently to normalise operations. We are offering alternate flights or refunds to affected customers and regret the inconvenience caused.”

The airline has advised passengers to check flight status on its website before heading to the airport.