Nagpur: A full-blown aviation crisis gripped Nagpur Airport on Thursday, paralysing air travel and throwing thousands of passengers into panic as IndiGo Airlines grounded nearly half its operational fleet, cancelling 11 flights by evening and delaying several others indefinitely.
As IndiGo operations collapsed, other airlines mercilessly hiked fares, with economy class tickets to Mumbai and Delhi touching an outrageous Rs 22,000, comparable to business class pricing. In several locations, fares surged to Rs 50,000 per passenger, with no seats available before December 6.
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05 dec 2025
Chaos peaked at the IndiGo ticket counters, where staff struggled to offer even basic clarity. “Don’t ask for tickets for at least a week. Even we are not sure if there will be any”, an executive admitted. The departure board around 8:30 pm displayed just one operational flight, highlighting the scale of disruption.
In a dramatic incident, a Kolkata-Pune flight carrying 162 passengers was diverted to Nagpur, only for the journey to be abruptly scrapped. The reason was not a medical emergency or technical fault, rather, Pune airport had no parking bays left due to widespread flight disruptions, sources confirmed.
Airfare loot, passenger fury
Furious travellers lashed out at IndiGo for selling new tickets while simultaneously cancelling flights: “I bought a ticket at 7pm for a 9pm flight. Why sell tickets if the flight is already cancelled?” asked an enraged passenger. A family headed to Tokyo was forced to book a taxi to Delhi after their preponed flight was scrapped.
Even airline employees expressed frustration over the breakdown in operations: “DGCA wants fixed duty hours for pilots, why not ground staff? We have no schedule, no relief, only chaos.”
The cancelled flights linked Nagpur to Pune, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Goa, crippling connectivity and affecting incoming flights due to the circular nature of operations.
With IndiGo operating 22 flights from Nagpur, the highest among all carriers, the shutdown brought the airport to a near standstill, and more cancellations were feared by midnight.
Aviation system failure
What unfolded on Thursday was not mere disruption, it was a collapse of planning, communication and accountability. Passengers were stranded without options, fleeced by predatory pricing, and forced into road travel at the last minute, while officials offered vague explanations under the tag of “operational reasons.”
Nagpur now asks:
• How could the largest carrier fail so catastrophically?
• Why were cancellations hidden while tickets were still being sold?
• Where is accountability in civil aviation oversight?
Until answers emerge, what remains is chaos, frustration, and a deep erosion of public trust in airline reliability.
