New Delhi: Indian domestic airlines cancelled 6,890 flights in December, impacting more than 9.66 lakh passengers, according to official government data presented in Parliament.In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said IndiGo accounted for the highest number of cancellations, with 5,689 flights scrapped, affecting around 9.02 lakh passengers during the month. This represented over 80 per cent of the total cancellations reported by all carriers combined.
The Air India Group, including Air India and AIX Connect, cancelled 924 flights, impacting 43,278 passengers. SpiceJet reported 79 cancellations, affecting 11,929 passengers, while Akasa Air cancelled 39 flights, impacting 5,673 travellers. State-owned Alliance Air cancelled 63 services, affecting 2,463 passengers, while IndiaOne Air cancelled 71 flights, impacting 408 passengers. Smaller carriers such as Star Air and Fly91 reported limited cancellations.
The government attributed the large-scale disruption mainly to operational challenges at IndiGo, including issues related to system management and over-optimisation of flight schedules. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) responded by reducing IndiGo’s winter schedule by 10 per cent and imposing penalties amounting to ₹22.20 crore.
The Civil Aviation Ministry also noted that adverse weather conditions in December contributed to flight cancellations across airlines, particularly during peak travel periods. The large number of cancellations caused significant inconvenience to passengers, especially at major airports such as Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.