Hundreds stranded as IndiGo flight chaos enters third day at Delhi airport
Chaos persisted for the third straight day at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport as IndiGo’s flight crisis deepened, stranding hundreds of passengers across its three terminals. Over 300 flights were cancelled again, leaving families, elderly travellers and children without accommodation or clear information on alternative travel options.
Chaos persisted for the third straight day at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport as IndiGo’s flight crisis deepened, stranding hundreds of passengers across its three terminals. Over 300 flights were cancelled again, leaving families, elderly travellers and children without accommodation or clear information on alternative travel options. Many had connecting flights and nowhere to go in the Capital.
“We landed in Delhi on December 3 from the US and we had a flight to Vadodara the next day. That got cancelled and they gave us an accommodation but our flight got cancelled again today and they aren’t offering any accommodation today. I don’t know how to use apps where one can book online hotel tickets or book cab,” said 87-year-old Arun Kumar Choksi who along with his 82-year-old wife had come to India to escape Ohio’s harsh winters.
“We enquired about the wheelchair to take us to the bus which would take us from terminal one to three, an IndiGo person said show us where it’s written on the ticket that you are eligible for a wheelchair. My wife who has sciatia began crying and then they gave us one wheelchair,” Choksi added.
Another 61-year-old Ethiopian passenger Okafor Nnamdi said he spent the entire night on December 5, roaming at the airport as he thought he will at least get the flight the next morning. But unfortunately, that too got cancelled, citing it as the worst air travel experience of his life.
“I bring sick people from countries like Ethiopia and Nigeria to India for medical treatment. Tomorrow, I have to take a Nigerian patient who was undergoing cancer treatment back to Nigeria from Mumbai but I am stuck here,” said the 61-year-old.
While some passengers managed to buy overpriced tickets with other airlines like Air India, most said the fares were unaffordable. “My flight is cancelled for today and there’s nothing until December 8. My visa will expire on December 7. I have no money to buy another ticket and I have no idea when I’ll get the refund for the cancelled ticket,” said 45-year-old Mohd Ashraf, who lives in Medina. He had travelled from Kashmir’s Poonch to Delhi and was supposed to fly to Hyderabad before going back to Medina.
Unable to find airline-arranged accommodation, many booked last-minute hotel rooms near the airport or train tickets to their destinations. “From Punjab we came here and had a connecting flight to Visakhapatnam today. We had a in line hockey national games scheduled for today. Our coach got it postponed for tomorrow,” said 13-year-old Ladakh-based Stanzin Shakya, adding his coach got train tickets for him and 16 teammates.
Through the day, stranded passengers said IndiGo made no airport announcements about cancellations, forcing people to run between counters for updates. Many also complained of a mismatch between online flight availability and the status shown at airline counters. “Online it shows there are tickets available but the lady at the Air India counter said flight are overbooked and the airline doesn’t have anything till December 8,” said 26-year-old Daksha Jain, who is trying to reach her sister’s wedding in Bengaluru on December 6.
People from across states shared food, phone chargers and travel agent numbers as they waited. Many said the airline should have at least arranged basic meals for those stranded overnight.
