IndiGo cancels 65 flights after DGCA grounds planes with faulty engines

Hundreds of passengers were stranded across the country on Monday as dozens of flights were cancelled by IndiGo and GoAir following the grounding of 11 planes.

Low-cost carrier IndiGo cancelled 65 flights on Tuesday, a day after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) grounded 11 A320 Neo aircraft with faulty engines after a mid-air scare.

IndiGo carries about 40% of domestic flyers. (Reuters File)

Of the 11 grounded planes powered by a specific series of Pratt & Whitney engines, eight belong to IndiGo and three to another budget airline, GoAir.

Flights to and from Delhi were among the worst hit, information available on Indigo’s website on Tuesday showed. Flights cancelled from Mumbai included those on Raipur, Indore and Delhi routes.

“We are proactively re-accommodating all our affected passengers on other flights. All affected passengers have been given the option to either choose another flight at no additional cost or cancel their booking and get a full refund without any cancellation charges,” a statement released by IndiGo said.

Flights to places such as Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Patna, Bhubaneswar, Amritsar, Cochin and Varanasi were also hit.

With Monday’s decision, 14 Neo aircraft, including 11 of IndiGo, have been grounded since February after European Aviation Safety Agency issued an emergency airworthiness directive.

DGCA cracked the whip after an IndiGo flight bound for Lucknow returned to Ahmedabad within 40 minutes of its getting airborne due to a mid-air engine failure on Monday.

Citing safety of operations, the DGCA said A320 Neos fitted with PW1100 engines beyond ESN 450 were grounded with immediate effect, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded across the country.

IndiGo carries about 40% of domestic flyers, while GoAir has a market share of around 10%.

(With PTI inputs)