Over 40 IndiGo flights cancelled; passengers left in the lurch
Srinagar/Jammu, Dec 5 (PTI) Chaotic scenes unfolded at the two commercial airports in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday after 13 IndiGo flights from Srinagar and 11 from Jammu were cancelled, prompting protests from hundreds of stranded passengers over the airline’s alleged failure to respond to distress calls.
IndiGo operations continued to witness disruptions nationwide due to pilot-rostering issues faced by the airline.
On Friday, the airline was scheduled to operate 36 flights at the Srinagar airport — 18 inbound and 18 outbound, officials said.
However, owing to rostering issues, the IndiGo cancelled 13 arriving and as many departing flights, they said.
The cancellations led to protests against the airline by passengers who had turned up at the airport, resulting in chaos. “However, the situation was brought under control immediately,” an official said.
A passenger, scheduled to travel to Delhi, said the situation has left people frustrated.
“In their frustration, the passengers were shouting and demanding an explanation for the flight delays and cancellations,” the passenger, who wished not to be named, said.
Speaking to PTI Videos outside the airport, a traveller, Rishabh Kumar from Kolkata, said passengers were facing harassments at the hands of the airline.
“I had to reach Delhi yesterday from Kolkata via Srinagar. This was a connecting flight. They (airline officials) told us in Kolkata yesterday that when we reach Srinagar, our flight to Delhi will be ready. But when we came here, they did not help us at all, neither the IndiGo, nor airport authorities,” Kumar said.
The Kolkata resident said his group had to face “trouble” at the airport for about four hours.
